House Tour Information at Monterey SHP

Monterey State Historic Park offers house tours of Stevenson House (530 Houston St.) and Larkin House (464 Calle Principal). The 45-minute guided tours will be offered at the Stevenson House at 10:00am and 3:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, while the 45-minute guided walkthroughs of the Larkin House will occur at 11:30am and 2:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The charge will be $10 to adults 18 years and older while children 17 years and under will be free. No reservations are necessary. Simply show up at the building of your desired tour a few minutes before the tour time. 

Larkin Hour

Stevenson House

Stevenson House InteriorBuilt in 1840, the Stevenson House is best known for being the temporary residence of famed author Robert Louis Stevenson for a few months in 1879. The historic adobe structure later became a gathering place for Monterey’s vibrant arts community in the 1920s and 1930s. Today the building showcases many of Stevenson’s personal possessions along with a variety of antique furniture and art including four large paintings of Monterey’s workers done for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.  

Larkin House InteriorThe first two story building constructed in California and the finest example of Monterey Colonial architecture, the Larkin House was built for American businessman and the only U.S. Consul to Mexican California, Thomas Oliver Larkin. The tour of the building takes in the first floor and its impressive collection of antique furniture and artworks that have been displayed in the building since the 1920s when Larkin’s granddaughter Alice Toulmin lived in the structure with her husband, Harry Toulmin.  

For more general public information, please call (831) 649-2907.  

For press inquiries, contact Richard Fletcher richard.fletcher@parks.ca.gov; 831-718-7695.  

Tour details:

  • Stevenson House tours will take place 10:00am and 3:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays for $10 an adult while children are free. No reservations are required. 
  • Larkin House tours will take place at 11:30am and 2:00pm Fridays and Saturdays for $10 an adult while children are free. No reservations are required.