National Register of Historic Places in Monterey County
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1937 Photograph from NRHP Nomination Form
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Remodeled Sunset Center Auditorium Photographed 20 May 2018
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Sunset Center Courtyard Photographed 20 May 2018
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Sunset Center
San Carlos Street Between 8th and 10th Streets
Carmel
Built 1925 and 1931
The Sunset Center is comprised of a school built in 1925 and an auditorium built in 1931. Oakland architect John J. Donovan designed the school in the Tudor Revival style. Architect Charles J. Ryland designed the auditorium in the Collegiate Gothic substyle of the Gothic Revival style. The auditorium was inspired by early English tithe barns which were depositories for the church's share of a peasant's products.
From 1931 until 1947, the auditorium was the nucleus of artistic, civic and social events in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Prominent musicians performed here after the founding of the Bach Festival in 1931.
Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1997.
In 1963, the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea purchased the property and renamed it the Sunset Community and Cultural Center.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the auditorium was rehabilitated and upgraded by Architectural Resources Group, a San Francisco firm with an impressive portfolio of major historic preservation projects.