When were you last inside Larkin House? Plenty of people in Monterey walk past it every week on the way to Alvarado Street or the wharf and have never seen the rooms. That's partly because of how the doors are scheduled. California State Parks offers Larkin House as a guided tour on Fridays and Saturdays only, at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Each tour runs 45 minutes, works first-come, first-served, and takes no more than 10 people.
Stevenson House follows the same pattern, with tours at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on the same two days. At four tours of 10 people a week, each house admits at most 40 visitors in a full week. The 42nd annual Christmas in the Adobes runs Friday, December 11, and Saturday, December 12, 2026, from 5 to 9 p.m. Over those two nights, more than 20 historic locations downtown are open together.
How the park opens its doors the rest of the year
Outside the event, hours and tour formats vary from building to building. Here is what's currently listed:
| Building | Listed year-round access |
|---|---|
| Custom House | Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Pacific House | Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| First Brick House | Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Robert Louis Stevenson House | Guided tours Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., 10 people max |
| Larkin House | Guided tours Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., 10 people max |
| Cooper-Molera Adobe | Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., self-guided |
| Casa Soberanes | No regular indoor hours on State Parks' building roster |
| Old Whaling Station | No regular indoor hours on State Parks' building roster |
State Parks also runs hour-long history walks Thursday through Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., starting at the Custom House. The park's gardens are open on their own without a reservation, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter. That includes the Memory Garden behind the Pacific House Museum.
Taken together, the schedule works well for a weekday visitor with time to spare. It's harder for anyone who works daytime hours, because almost every listed window closes by 4 p.m. Christmas in the Adobes starts at 5 p.m. and goes until 9.
The two buildings with no regular hours
Casa Soberanes and the Old Whaling Station are where the gap is widest. Neither one appears on State Parks' routine list of building hours. The park's regular guided tours cover only Stevenson House and Larkin House.
Casa Soberanes has opened for special occasions. During State Parks Week in June 2025, a free arts and literature tour included entry to the house. Even then, parts of the house stay off-limits. The Monterey History and Art Association's January–February 2025 newsletter says the public doesn't normally see the painted Mayo Hayes O'Donnell bedroom upstairs, because the staircase is an accident hazard.
On its rentals page, State Parks says it is not booking the Old Whaling Station for special events "indefinitely."
Both buildings were on the 2025 Christmas in the Adobes list.
What the 2025 roster opened
The 2026 lineup hasn't been confirmed. Last year's list of participating buildings, dated December 5, 2025, gives a sense of how wide the route runs:
- State Parks houses with limited hours the rest of the year: Larkin House, Robert Louis Stevenson House, Casa Soberanes, Old Whaling Station
- Daytime museums open in the evening: Custom House, Pacific House, First Brick House, Stanton Center
- Civic and religious landmarks: Colton Hall, Royal Presidio Chapel/San Carlos Cathedral, California's First Theatre, Mayo Hayes O'Donnell Library
- Adobes along the route: Casa Abrego, Casa Amesti, Casa Gutierrez, Casa Serrano, Casa de la Torre, Gabriel de la Torre Adobe, Governor Alvarado Adobe, Lara-Soto Adobe, Pacheco Adobe, Merritt House
- Partners beyond the adobes: Cooper-Molera Adobe, Monterey Museum of Art, Old Fisherman's Wharf
That comes to 25 sites in 2025. The event's Eventbrite listing describes the community partners this way: "Many community partner locations open their doors to the public only during this event." The Old Town Neighborhood Association's December 2025 bulletin described last year's evening as a luminaria-lined walk, with docents in period costume explaining each adobe's history and music and refreshments at some venues.
Cooper-Molera, newly restored
Cooper-Molera is the best argument for a second visit, even if you've done the walk before. The Monterey Herald reported in October 2025 that the adobe finished a $1 million restoration that July. The work covered the upstairs balcony, the sunroom and the gift shop. According to the Herald, it was paid for with a 2022 National Park Service Save America's Treasures grant and money from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Cooper-Molera also keeps longer regular hours than most of the park. The National Trust lists Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the Cooper and Diaz Adobes, grounds and exhibits open for self-guided visits. So if your time on the event nights is short, you can see the restoration on a weekend afternoon and save the evening for houses you can't otherwise get into.
Planning the two nights
Two nights and four hours each sounds generous, but 20-plus doors across downtown is a lot to cover. The ticket rules reward a little planning:
- Pick single night or Gold Pass. An adult ticket for one night is $30. The two-night Gold Pass is $45, and admission is free for anyone 17 and under. The $25 early-bird price ended November 1.
- Buy discounts in person. Military and MSHPA member discounts aren't offered online. MSHPA directs those buyers to the Custom House Store.
- Pick up a wristband before you start. Online buyers check in at one of three will-call points, which open at 4 p.m. both nights: Stanton Center at Custom House Plaza, Casa Gutierrez at 590 Calle Principal, or Stevenson House at 530 Houston Street. You'll get your wristband and the event map there. These spots don't sell tickets, and individual buildings won't accept a phone or print-at-home ticket.
- Dress for the weather. The event happens rain or shine, and tickets aren't refundable.
- Know what the garden reception includes. MSHPA's Memory Garden reception on December 11, from 4 to 7 p.m., costs $65 per person. It doesn't include admission to Christmas in the Adobes.
The will-call locations make good starting points. Casa Gutierrez on Calle Principal and Stevenson House on Houston Street put you on the inland side of the route. Stanton Center starts you on the plaza by the waterfront. With a Gold Pass, you can pick up the map on Friday and check it against the year-round table above. If Larkin House, Stevenson House or Casa Soberanes are on the 2026 route, as they were in 2025, those houses have the tightest limits the rest of the year. Saturday can go to the partner sites and anything you missed.
Ticket money goes back into the park. Proceeds support history programs for local elementary students, along with education, research, interpretation and preservation at Monterey State Historic Park.
The weeks around it
Christmas in the Adobes falls in a busy stretch of the downtown calendar. The City of Monterey's Holiday Events 2026 page lists Ice Skating by the Bay at Custom House Plaza daily from November 20 through January 3. Admission is $15 for adults and $13 for children 12 and under, plus $5 for skate rental. The same page lists the tree lighting on the Colton Hall lawn for December 4 at 5 p.m. and Christmas on the Wharf on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from December 4 to 20. Colton Hall and Old Fisherman's Wharf were both on the 2025 adobes roster. The rink sits at Custom House Plaza, where Stanton Center will-call opens at 4 p.m. on December 11 and 12.
Some of my favorite conversations with clients start with the history of a single Monterey adobe: who built it, who kept it standing, and what it looks like inside by lamplight. If you're thinking about a historic property on the Peninsula, or you own one and want its story told well, Ryan Sherman Luxury Real Estate would be glad to help. Schedule a private consultation.
