At 4:18 a.m. on Oct. 28, Nick Leonoff was filming firefighters as they aimed a water cannon into Alan Masaoka's stained-glass studio at the Center Street Marketplace. He told The Carmel Pine Cone that this was when he understood the whole building was in danger, and he started carrying artwork out of his gallery four doors down.
The fire had started shortly before 3 a.m. in the office buildings behind the marketplace. From there it spread into the marketplace's southern building and to a nearby home, according to Monterey County NOW. No one was injured. As of the Pine Cone's Nov. 6 issue, the cause was still under investigation.
From Carmel Valley Road, Center Street looks like a small shopping center built around Jerome's. Behind the market, though, the building held working studios, with kilns, glass, tile, paint and the tools that go with them. Those workshops are what burned. Each of the fundraisers since then has been organized around the same need, which is a new room to work in.
What Was Behind the Market
The Carmel Valley Association called Center Street "a treasured mix of local services, gift and specialty shops, and craft workshops," according to the Pine Cone's Oct. 30 coverage. The craft workshops are the part that is hardest to replace.
| Maker or business | What they make or do | What was reported |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Masaoka, Masaoka Glass Design | Stained glass, architectural commissions | Studio destroyed, including work in progress |
| Nick Leonoff | Art glass, best known locally for glass pumpkins | Studios & Gallery burned through; Contemporary Glass Gallery had smoke and water damage |
| Nina Temple | Painting | Gallery and working studio lost; she plans to relocate |
| Barbara Codd | Artist | Lost artwork in her studio above Nina Temple's |
| Deborah Russell, Peridot Fine Art | Painting | Most paintings badly damaged by smoke and water |
| Didier Guedj and Judy Hamblin, Mosaics By Didier | Mosaic and tile work | Studio, tools, materials and finished inventory lost |
| Jacey Vickrey, Lily & Lavender Company | Small business | Reported destroyed |
| Olivia and Daisy, Avant Garden | Bookstore; neighboring shop | Both reported total losses |
| Carmel Valley Ink Body Arts | Tattoo studio | Damaged; a fundraiser was launched |
The San Francisco Chronicle shows how long some of these studios had been part of the Village. Masaoka has worked in glass since 1975 and moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1980. He moved his studio to its Carmel Valley location in 1998. His installation "River of Time" hangs in the Acute Care Building at San Francisco General Hospital.
Why Replacing the Tools Comes Before Replacing the Art
The Pine Cone's Nov. 6 issue reported that Leonoff, unlike most artists, relies on specialized equipment, and much of it was damaged along with his artwork. Both of his spaces are off-limits, so it could be weeks or months before he knows what can be salvaged. His website says the business is closed until further notice and can't process orders or produce new work.
The fundraiser pages describe the same pattern. Dianne Driessen's campaign for Masaoka, which she started the day of the fire, is meant to cover a new studio, tools, a computer and startup costs. Jasmine Stacy's campaign for Deborah Russell aims "to replace tools, art supplies and furniture, and to help cover some of the costs of acquiring a new studio, since the Center Street spaces are likely to be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future," as she wrote in a statement quoted by the Pine Cone. Guedj and Hamblin told the same paper that their "specialized tools, our raw materials, and an extensive inventory of finished mosaic artwork" were lost.
The timing made the loss worse. In the Pine Cone's Oct. 30 issue, the Carmel Valley Association said the fire "has hit at the worst possible time, right before the peak commerce season that runs from Halloween through New Year's Day." For a glass artist known for pumpkins and a mosaic studio that runs Christmas classes, those are the months when much of the year's work gets sold. Leonoff's 2026 pumpkin-patch appearances ran in September and October, just before the fire.
How Fast the Fundraisers Grew
The Pine Cone's first story, on Oct. 30, counted three GoFundMe campaigns. Masaoka's had raised more than $13,000 in under 24 hours. By the Nov. 6 issue there were 10 campaigns with more than $100,000 raised in total, "with the total climbing by the hour." By then Masaoka's campaign alone had passed $48,000 and Leonoff's had passed $32,000. Together those two account for roughly four of every five dollars in the paper's $100,000 total.
The smaller campaigns are a long way behind. The Peridot Fine Art campaign had raised just over $2,500 by Nov. 6. A campaign for a longtime local family whose home was destroyed had passed $11,000. That gap probably reflects how well known each name was before the fire more than the size of each loss, and some of the businesses that lost the most have the smallest campaigns.
The Pine Cone suggested a simple way to find all of them. Go to GoFundMe.com, search "Carmel Valley, CA," and filter fundraisers by the last 30 days to see all 10 local campaigns. You don't need a GoFundMe account to donate.
Where the Studios Go Next
Nina Temple told the Pine Cone that so much damage was done to her studio and the surrounding offices "that we will have to relocate." Leonoff said the same in the Nov. 6 issue, and he named the open question directly.
"I don't know where I'm going to go," he told the Pine Cone. "I'd love to stay in Carmel Valley, but I don't know if it's possible." He expects a long road back, and he also said he is confident he will be back.
The Pine Cone reported that the Center Street Marketplace building is boarded up indefinitely. Older directories still list many of these artists at Center Street addresses, so it's best to check a maker's own website or social media before going anywhere.
A Borrowed Room on Dec. 5 and 6
Mosaics By Didier is the first of the affected studios to put a date on the calendar. Its website lists a Christmas mosaic workshop on Dec. 5 and 6 at the Carmel Valley Lodge, and the studio is still taking commission inquiries by email. Its fundraiser page says the class will be held in the Lodge's community room, with proceeds going toward replacing tools.
The class falls on the same weekend the Village's holiday season starts.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: The Carmel Valley Recreation & Park District holds its annual tree lighting on the first Saturday in December. The program begins at 4:30 p.m., and the tree is lit shortly after 5 p.m.
- Dec. 5 and 6: The Mosaics By Didier Christmas workshop takes place at the Carmel Valley Lodge.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 10:30 a.m.: Carmel Valley Rotary's Santa's Fly-In brings Santa to the Village, followed by a parade on Carmel Valley Road.
Jerome's Carmel Valley Market is still the center of the block. Monterey County NOW reported that the market came through the fire, and the Pine Cone reported it reopened the next morning, Oct. 29. Jerome's announcement said "the market was spared thanks to the heroic efforts of our first responders" and that it hopes "to join our neighbors in their efforts to rebuild what was lost."
Rombi Wines told the Pine Cone that it felt "very fortunate to have survived" and sent its thoughts to the neighbors who suffered losses. For more on the Village beyond this block, see our Carmel Valley neighborhood page and our guide to Palo Corona's two gates.
If you hear of a vacant workroom, a garage studio or a community space in the Valley that could house one of Center Street's makers, Katy Harrison would be glad to help pass it along to the people looking.
