Larkin House

The Larkin House is a two-story building defined by its thick, white-plastered adobe walls and a wide, covered porch that wraps around the second level. Built in eighteen thirty-five, it represents a hybrid of architectural traditions, merging the mud-brick techniques of Mexican California with the colonial frame-and-shingle designs of New England. Because local sawmills could not provide enough redwood for a standard frame house, the owner, Thomas Oliver Larkin, adapted his design to incorporate adobe, creating the prototype for what became known as the Monterey Colonial style.