Supposed haunted Monterey home turned business up for sale for $2.975 million

If you live in Monterey, you've likely heard stories about the Stokes Adobe, that sits at 500 Hartnell Street.

It was formerly Restaurant 1833, but that closed in 2017.

According to the sellers, The Stokes Adobe in Monterey is a national heritage site that is rich with historical elements from Monterey's historical background. The building was established in 1833 and housed a former apothecary, was home to California's first newspaper press, contained the first kiln in California, was formerly the famous Gallatin's restaurant and as mentioned, more recently, restaurant 1833.

With that rich history come some dark tales.

According to SF Gate, The Stokes Adobe was built in 1833, as the restaurant name suggests, for Ambrose Tomlinson. It was just one big room then, but quite a lovely one and ripe for expansion. Four years later, Tomlinson sold it to James Stokes, a man with a murky past. Some have said Stokes was a British sailor who deserted upon arrival in California (not an uncommon origin story for the few pre-Gold Rush Anglo settlers in the state). More salacious tales say he jumped ship with a stolen chest of medical supplies, passing himself off as a doctor. Whether or not he had actual medical training, he soon settled in as Monterey’s top physician. In September 1835, he was summoned by the ailing governor of Alta California, José Figueroa. Figueroa died under Stokes’ care, but it didn’t hurt his reputation. With business booming, Stokes began expanding his new home — he needed to. He and his wife, referred alternately in records as Josefa, Josefina or Maria, had 14 children between them. In 1844, Stokes added seven more rooms plus a second floor. Those were good years for the Stokes family. A decade later, they were beset by scandal and tragedies. It began with the death of Josefa, who was just 39 when she died in 1855. A few years later, her eldest son drowned at 21. On the evening of September 27, 1864, James Stokes alarmed the family with his erratic behavior. He was drunk and “partly insane,” the Monterey Gazette reported, when his sons Manuel and Domingo stepped in to prevent him from leaving the home. The Gazette would later report that for two days, he’d been in “such a state of mental debility from excessive indulgence in liquors,” his family feared he would take his own life. They had reason to fear it: At 6 o’clock, when his sons’ backs were turned, Stokes downed a lethal dose of strychnine and was dead within 15 minutes.

The two-story building is designed in the Monterey Colonial style with turn-of-the-century elements that pay homage to the building’s rich history. The 7,225 square feet building is sited on a half-acre property that includes ample outdoor space that provides an intimate setting for outdoor dining & entertaining.

If you're interested, it'll run you $2.975 million. For more on the building, click here.