The Larkin House is a reminder of the influence Thomas Oliver Larkin exerted on California’s political history and on secular architecture during the first half of the 19th century. Map.
One of the first two-story houses built in Monterey and one of the earliest examples of Monterey colonial architecture, it was started in 1834 shortly after Larkin (a half brother of John Rogers Cooper) came to California as a Yankee merchant. Larkin adapted eastern form to available materials: adobe and redwood.
Larkin, an American merchant, became one of the most successful men in Monterey. In 1844 he was appointed U.S. Consul to Alto California, and for the next five years the adobe served as headquarters and the center of social life of the Capital. Here historic decisions regarding California’s future role were made.
This important adobe was presented to the State of California as a historic monument in 1957 by Mrs. Alice Larkin Toulmin, Larkin’s granddaughter. It is a unit of the Monterey State Historic Park.
Location: Calle Principal at Jefferson Street