El Paseo Building
El Paseo Building is a two-story commercial building in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The building is the best example of Spanish Eclectic commercial design in Carmel, inspired by the Spanish churches built in the 1880s. The building was designated in the city's "Downtown Historic Conservation District Historic Property Survey," and was recorded with the National Register of Historic Places on January 24, 2002. The building has been occupied by the Little Napoli restaurant since 1990. History. The El Paseo Building was designed by the Oakland, California architectural firm of Roger Blaine and David  Olsen for Lewis C. Merrill, a Carmel businessman. El Paseo means the "passageway" in Spanish. It is at the corner of Dolores Street and Seventh Avenue. It is a two-story, reinforced concrete building with an open interior courtyard built in 1928. It has colorful hand-made imported tiles on the rise of the steps on the staircase and in under the windows and front doors. It has hand-made, hand-forged wrought iron balconies and window grilles, metal lanterns designed by the architects, and every shop has a fireplace. Red floor tile covers the passageway and outside courtyard. A  fountain and garden area are in the courtyard used for outdoor dining. The building originally contained four stores and several offices at a cost of $25,000. The building was reviewed in the "Carmel Pine Cone" on April 27, 1928, saying: The formal opening of the building was on May 1, 1928. Jo Mora completed the "El Paseo" sculpture, in the courtyard of the building. The sculpture is an example of the artistic and cultural contributions of Mora to Carmel in the 1920s. It is a terracotta sculpture of a Californio man and a Señorita woman. Blaine & Olsen. Roger Blaine  and David Olsen were partners with Wilson J. Wythe in the Wythe, Blaine & Olsen architecture firm in Oakland. They were primarily church and commercial designers. Wythe died in 1926. Blaine & Olsen traveled to Spain and became aware of the Spanish architecture. They designed a number of the best known Spanish Eclectic commercial buildings in Carmel. The firm Blaine & Olsen continued the partnership with a focus on Spanish Eclectic design in Oakland, Santa Barbara, and Carmel. The partnership lasted until the Great Depression in the United States. The El Paseo Building and the La Ribera Hotel are two of their best  known works.