On March 20, 2008, Monterey County Now (
visit link) reported the following story:
"Rich in history and ghost lore, Monterey’s Stokes Adobe is on the market.
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By Hali Jones Mar 20, 2008
Stories and ghosts? Apparently the Monterey landmark, Stokes Adobe, is fascinating for more reasons than just the brilliant architecture and its historical designation. It first opened as a restaurant in 1950 but has a history that hails back to 1833.
That’s when it was built for Ambrose Tomlinson by Hoge and Benjamin Day as a single handsome room beautifully constructed inside and out with the red-tile roof handmade by workers pressing proper lengths of thick, moist adobe around their upper thighs. The signature palm in front is shown already very tall in old sepia photographs and now intimately touches its fronds on a taller redwood that was planted later. An honored oak growing nearby since the place was constructed, seems to stand accepting its due admiration. The property is a Monterey treasure.
Within four years of its construction, Tomlinson sold it to James Stokes and it soon became the stage for many stories. Stokes was a British sailor who jumped ship here in 1833 with cases of medicines. He presented himself as Dr. Stokes and opened a pharmacy. The counterfeit physician was, in hindsight, not only a fraud but possibly a murderer. He was astonishingly undiscovered and successful, even becoming the personal physician in charge of Gov. José Figueroa’s health. Figueroa died in 1835 while under Stokes’ care. Many of Stokes’ patients also died during his years in business, but that seems to have upset no one since he grew wealthy and famous and bought the house from Tomlinson three years after his arrival in Monterey. He married a widow with four children, whose husband he had treated, and they had two more children. So, in 1844 Stokes added seven more rooms and a second floor to house his family. Those additions remain steadfast and the impressive detailing on the super-thick adobe walls with deeply recessed windows, doors and walk-throughs is compelling to see. The wall texture is viscerally satisfying and the ideal surface for the original simple, thin, straight-line designs in thick gold leaf that frame geometric shapes painted in ultra-soft hues of earth and sky.
Years later, Stokes sold his house to a French baker who gets credit for initiating the future restaurants. It also was a grand home to others through the years, including a woman named Hattie who died there in 1948. It’s said that guests and employees have seen her ghost in the upper dining room, Hattie’s bedroom; the ghost of the infamous “doctor,” meanwhile, has been reported wandering in his white coat through walls. A team of paranormal experts was only able to discern clumps of “fog’’ in Hattie’s room. Stokes committed suicide in front of his sons in the house and it’s anyone’s guess why he would he would keep returning to remind everyone of his terrible deeds.
Currently, Stokes Adobe is for sale as perhaps a continuing restaurant or home, store, museum or other concept. The restaurant has three years left on its lease. The bars (upstairs and down) are solid oak. In the dining room rimmed with windows, the wine cellar/curing house behind a picture window was transplanted from elsewhere. The pine board floors have the lovely patina of time and a stippled effect, too, from high heels over the many decades. These days, everything about Stokes Adobe is very comforting, welcoming and hail-fellow-well-met. All of it is unforgettable and worthy of exploration, as is its long established appreciation and fame.
Price: $3 Million. 500 Hartnell St., Monterey. John G. Davi Properties. Contact John Davi, 646-9988."