‘Haunted’ Monterey adobe hits market for $3.35 million

MONTEREY — The historic Stokes Adobe in Monterey is on the market for $3.35 million. What’s thrown in for free is its quirky tales of ghostly presences and sinister drama.

David Bernahl, the chief executive of Coast Luxury Management, the owner of the property, said Wednesday that the buyer will be someone “who sees the value in uniqueness and originality.”

Most recently the adobe was the former home of Restaurant 1833, named after the date the adobe was built. Despite sound reviews, the restaurant didn’t make it in a town with an extremely competitive landscape for eateries.

“It’s not a traditional building,” he said. “It wouldn’t be suited for a Starbucks. There’s an oak tree on the property that was planted by Father Junipero Serra and a great redwood towers over the outside dining area — you couldn’t buy that for any amount of money.”

There’s that and there’s also Hattie. As lore has it, socially prominent Hattie Gragg, who lived in the 500 Hartnell St. adobe from 1890 to 1948, still resides, of sorts, in a front upstairs room. Ghost enthusiasts still visit the property and it has been featured on television as a haunted tourist attraction, said Anthony Davi Jr., who is with KW Coastal Estates and is brokering the property for Bernahl.

There were reported “clumps of fog” in Hattie’s room by a team of paranormal experts, Davi said. Then again, it is just a stone’s throw away from Monterey Bay and fog does happen. Hattie’s room is now the upper dining room.

Stokes Adobe has had its seedy side as well. Named after James Stokes, a British sailor who claimed to be a doctor, right up the point that California’s Gov. José Figueroa died under his care. Discovered to have been a murderer, one of his patients succumbed, allowing him to marry the patient’s widow.

The building has collected several firsts over the years, including being the site of California’s first newspaper, Monterey’s first bakery and the city’s first pottery kiln.

But it’s the restaurants it’s most known for in recent times. In 1950, Gallatin Powers transformed the house into a restaurant that went on to garner national prominence.  It has attracted the likes of Frank Sinatra and Hollywood stars.

Later, when it became Restaurant 1833, it also garnered accolades. The decor earned it four stars from the San Francisco Chronicle and was named a James Beard “Best New Restaurant” semifinalist.

With that kind of success, Bernahl said it was a difficult decision to sell. But he’s in the middle of restructuring his business and among his challenges was ending up in U.S. Tax Court in San Francisco. Court documents from earlier this year indicated Coast was “attempting to sell an asset, the proceeds of which would cover … a portion of its outstanding tax liabilities.”

“This came from a place of love and passion,” Bernahl said. “It’s painful having to sell.”