Wynkoop and his family moved to
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in the early 1950s. His mother, Leona, died soon after, on December 13, 1951, at a
San Bernardino, California, hospital. In January 1951, Wynkoop designed a scale model for the a 800-student capacity
San Carlos-Belmont high school (which opened as "Carlmont High School", to be built at an estimated cost of $1,225,000 (). On January 25, 1952, Wynkoop placed an ad in the
Carmel Pine Cone advertising his architectural office at Dolores Street at 7th Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, with 18 employees working for him. He built the
Pacific Grove High School and the
San Carlos High School. As a school planning specialist, he served on the Educational Advisory Boards of Great Britain and Australia. Models of his architectural plans were on exhibition in Boston, St. Louis, and Los Angeles.
Butterfly House Wynkoop designed two houses on the
Carmel Point coastline. The
Butterfly House was the first one, at 26320 Scenic Road. Construction began in 1951 and the
National Geographic in 1954 Wynkoop lived in the house with his wife Virginia and son Thor until he was forced him to sell the $135,000 () house in 1955 to Stephen Kahn for only $15,000 (). On March 31, 1953, the
Monterey Herald wrote an article with the title:
Workman Begin Modernization Of Landmark on Carmel Point. The property was once the
Col. Dutton's House, built in . It was referred to as "The Warehouse," and "The Castle" by his neighbor Robinson Jeffers. It was a stone "shoebox" size house with large iron doors to the west of the "Sea Road," (Scenic Road) which at the time was a dirt road that was marked by driftwood stakes on both sides of the road. ==Other designs==