A sign, located in front of the Stevenson House reads:
"THE STEVENSON HOUSE
The oldest parts of this adobe house date from 1840. It was built by Rafael
Gonzalez, an administrator of the Custom House. Swiss immigrant Juan Girardin
and his wife Manuela Perez de Girardin expanded the building and rented rooms
to sailors, tradesmen and artists.
Robert Louis Stevenson visited Monterey for three and a half months in the fall of 1879.
He came to win the hand of Mrs. Fanny Osbourne.
During part of his stay, it is believed he occupied a second-floor room of
this house, which was then called the French Hotel. Whle in Monterey he wrote an essay,
The Old Pacific Capital, and gathered ideas for later works including Treasure Island.
The house was donated to the State in 1941 by Mrs. Celia Tobin Clark and Mrs. Edith Van Antwerp as a memorial to Robert Louis Stevenson.
Today the building holds one of the world's most important collections of Stevenson's personal belongings."
The sign was posted by the Monterey State Historic Park.
This Park website (
visit link) informs us:
"Open May thru September Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Holidays that fall on Monday - 10:a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - Closed for Fall/Winter except by private tour. Private Tours are limited to 25 persons. :45 minute presentation fee - $75. Call 831-649-7172.
This two-story adobe has sheltered families, government officials, artists, writers and fishermen, beginning in the Mexican era. During its time as a rooming house, known as the French Hotel, a young writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, stayed a few months in the autumn of 1879. Poor, in frail health and unknown, Stevenson was cared for by friends while he courted his future wife, Fanny Osbourne. It was in Monterey that Stevenson penned the "Old Pacific Capital." Today, the Stevenson House has been restored with several rooms devoted to "Stevensonia.""