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Originally from Basque Spain, Jose Amesti erected his plastered adobe house in Monterey, CA, between 1833 and the 1855; he married, Purdenciana Vallejo, a daughter of the important Spanish landowner, Don Jose Vallejo, in 1822; originally, the Casa Amesti had only one story, but a second was added as the family prospered in Monterey; beginning c. 1918, the important American interior designer, Frances Adler Elkins moved into a somewhat dilapidated Casa Amesti; over her 35 years in the house, she restored it to becoming an important showplace in Monterey; it was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1953, and is now leased to a local men's club, the Old Capitol Club;

With its two-story elevation, plastered adobe walls, and projecting second floor balcony, the Casa Amesti stands as a paradigmatic example of the Monterey Colonial Style. This style evolved from elements grafted from Spanish/Mexican and Anglo building traditions.

A second floor was added to the house after 1855. Frances Elkins and her brother, the Chicago architect, David Adler, began alterations to the two-story adobe in 1918. She added two doorways on the front facade.

PCAD id: 3407