I painted my first Tuck Box back in 2007 when I was brand new at my craft, and since then I’ve probably painted 50 or more in various sizes. I can honestly say, this most recent one is the best of the bunch. Not that it can’t be better, and it will as I continue to paint and sell them. But for now, I will consider it my new “standard of excellence.”
Built in 1921, the Tuck Box is a product of Hugh Comstock’s fairytale architecture that was very popular during the early development of Carmel-by-the-Sea. It housed a restaurant in the early 1930s and 10 years later, two sisters from England bought it and renamed it the Tuck Box English Tea Room. Since then the ownership has transferred a handful of times, but it remains a tea room to present day. Check it out next time you’re in Carmel!