This spring I posted about my California Road Trip and our visit to the Cooper-Molera Adobe in Monterey, California. You can read about it here. This adobe home was built in 1823, and has stood the test of time for almost 200 years. It is currently owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who leases it to the California Park System to operate. It is a beautiful structure that is part of the Monterey State Historic Park, which consists of 55 buildings all over town.
Well at the Cooper-Molera Adobe
The California Park System has been plagued by financial difficulties over the last several years and is now telling the National Trust that it cannot continue to upkeep or operate a site that they do not own. As a result, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is considering a proposal by a developer to turn the site into shops and restaurants. The developer says they intend to maintain the historic integrity of the structures, but as I’m sure you know, it wouldn’t be possible to add commercial kitchens and office spaces without fundamentally changing the structure and damaging the historic integrity of the building. And once a site is gone, we can never get it back…
Historic Barn at the Cooper-Molera Adobe
If this tugs at your heartstrings the way that it does mine, here’s a website with more information. Send a letter, get involved, do what you can to help ensure future generations are able to visit historic sites.
Wine and History Visited 
ug. Was just having this conversation the other day how sad it is we do not have lots of cool old building the way Europe does, partially because we are a younger country but also because we tend to tear neat old buildings down and put up modern ones.
Exactly! We don’t have a sense of place the way they do in Europe. If it isn’t the newest or the shiniest, we want something better. It’s a real shame.