Robinson Jeffers, a giant in the ranks of American poets, designed the original cottage as a home for his wife, Una, himself and their twin sons. He sited the house on a point of land that meets the sea like the "row and plunging cutwater" of a ship. He called it Tor House, naming it for the craggy knoll, the "tor" on which it was built. Carmel Point, then, was a treeless headland, almost devoid of buildings. Construction began in 1918.

Hawk Tower
In 1920, the poet-builder began his work on Hawk Tower, a retreat for his wife and a magic place for his sons. It was completed in less than four years, a remarkable feat since Jeffers built the tower entirely by himself.

Many literary friends visited Robin and Una at Tor House: George Sterling, Edgar Lee Masters, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mark Van Doren, Van Wyck Brooks, Sinclair Lewis, and others.

All of Jeffers' major works, the great bulk of his poetry, were written at Tor House.

For more information, accesswww.torhouse.org

The Tor House Foundation, affiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non profit organization of volunteer members established in 1978 to acquire, maintain and provide for public access to Tor Houses Hawk Tower, and the surrounding gardens.