Stevenson House

STEVENSON HOUSE

First owned by Don Rafael Gonzalez, and reportedly built in the 1830s, this two-story adobe originally comprised a sala, or reception room, on the ground floor and one large room upstairs. Over the years it housed many businesses, until a Swiss businessman named Girardin purchased it and added on the Houston Street section, and it became known as "The French Hotel."
         It was here that the Scots novelist Robert Louis Stevenson stayed during his successful courting of Fanny Osbourne. He wrote The Old Pacific Capital about Monterey in 1879, and gathered inspiration for his great story, Treasure Island.
         In 1937 the historic adobe was purchased by Edith C. van Antwerp and Mrs. C. Tobin Clark to save it from destruction. They in turn presented it to the State of California, and it is now part of Monterey State Historic Park. It forms a repository of Robert Louis Stevenson memorabilia, including furniture, first edition books, manuscripts, keepsakes and personal belongings of ‘RLS', given by members of his family.

Stevenson House