Fall 2026

158 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 6 THE STORY OF THE CARMEL DAIRY Jo Mora’s Contr ibutions and the Histor y of the Reardon Building B Y P E T E R H I L L E R Photo: Lewis Josselyn I f you take the time to pause for a moment while standing in front of Tiffany’s at Ocean Avenue and Mission Street in Carmel-by-the- Sea, you can look kitty-corner across the street at the building with a sign painted “Carmel Dairy” and decide for yourself if the building does indeed look like an old-fashioned milk bottle. The property on which the dairy building was constructed was owned by Thomas Reardon, an early resident of Carmel who arrived in 1906. Called “Carmel's pioneer plumber,” Reardon was multifaceted and involved himself in numerous community activities, including the Arts and Crafts Club, the Forest Theater Society and the Citizens Fire Protection Committee; he even served on the Carmel City Council. It is not an accident that architect Guy Koepp, commissioned by the Reardon estate, designed the building in 1932 to resemble a milk bottle, knowing the tenant would be Earl Graff ’s Carmel Dairy.The building is perfectly in keeping with the unique character of Carmel-by-the-Sea and its presence is notable in the Downtown Historic District. The playful anthropomorphic animals depicted in Mora’s murals enlivened and contrasted the angular designs of the interiors. The murals helped make the dairy a popular stop for ice cream for children on their way home from Sunset School.