Residents fight to preserve this town's weird quirk that affects every house

One of the most unique villages of the world is Carmel-by-the-Sea. Here, no properties have a street address and homes are known by location descriptors or names, such as Sea Castle and Somewhere.

That peculiarity is about to end, although not all residents of the hamlet on the US east coast, sometimes simply called Carmel, agree with falling into line with the rest of the world.

Carmel-by-the-Sea is in California’s Monterey County, an expensive part of the state, with a cinematic coast line and glam houses, immortalised in Aussie author Leanne Moriarty’s TV adaption of Big Little Lies.

Businesses also do not have street addresses in the “moneyed” town, as it is described by the Los Angeles Times. Parcels have to be collected from the post office, because no courier or mailman would ever find the specific property, otherwise.

Although this quirk of town life seems harmless, it has meant mail gets lost and some residents have been unable to set up bank accounts or deal with utilities companies.

The residents most committed to this oddity have threatened to secede from California if it ever changed.

And that day has come, the Times reports.

Council this month voted to introduce addresses in Carmel-by-the-Sea. An opponent told the council hearing that it would make the town like every other along the coast, in an appeal to hang on to its quaint, defining characteristic.

However, not having visible street numbers is against California-wide fire code, ensuring emergency services can make a speedy identification. Carmel-by-the-Sea has not buckled to law, until now.

Over the years, tourists and locals have said they are concerned an ambulance, police officers or fire fighters would not be able to find them without a street address.

A resident explained to the hearing how the situation has made it difficult for his wife to take delivery of her critical medications. On an occasion, a postman tossed the medicine parcel over a neighbour’s fence, where it was later found, spoilt and unusable.

Neal Kruse, co-chair of the Carmel Preservation Association, told the July 9 town meeting this was yet another attempt to modernise the community against its wishes.

“We are losing this place, day by day and week by week, from people who want to modernise us, who want to take us to a new level, when we want to stay where we are,” he said in a quote in the Times.