"He's had a hard time with the city," said Karyl Hall, co-chair of the Carmel Preservation Assn. "It's one thing after another after another. They've just beaten him down incredibly."

"There's no question that he gets more scrutiny," said Tim Allen, a real estate agent who has handled most of Pastor's local purchases, including the Frank Lloyd Wright residence, also known as the Mrs. Clinton Walker House.

Completed in 1952 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the architectural jewel had been kept within the original owner's family until Pastor bought it in February 2023. The 1,400-square-foot house, on a rocky bluff jutting into Carmel Bay, has a hexagonal living room and stone masonry walls shaped like a ship's prow cutting through the waves.

In a 1945 letter to Wright, artist Della Walker wrote: "I am a woman living alone — I wish protection from the wind and privacy from the road and a house as enduring as the rocks but as transparent and charming as the waves and as delicate as a seashore. You are the only man who can do this — will you help me?"

The architect replied: "Dear Mrs. Walker: I liked your letter, brief and to the point."

Allen said Pastor's purchase includes the original furniture, because "he's buying a piece of history" — albeit one that "needs a ton of work," including an expensive new roof.

Last spring, Esperanza Carmel LLC, applied for a Mills Act contract for the site, a tax break for owners of historic properties who commit to restoring and preserving them. Although the City Council had approved such a contract for the home's previous owner, some council members balked at giving the tax break — a saving of an estimated $1.5 million over 10 years — to Pastor and postponed a decision for several months.

One resident, in a letter to the City Council, wrote: "I doubt the applicant is in financial hardship ... I'm not in favor of giving handouts to ultra wealthy property owners."

Before the council approved the tax break this spring, city officials tried to persuade Pastor to give public tours of the house and to make direct payments to local schools (which are partly funded by property taxes) — requests not made of applicants for other properties. Pastor refused.

Via Zoom, Pastor told the council he would "maintain this wonderful house in perfect condition, even if only to continue to bother those jealous people who will never have access to it."

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