Stevenson House

Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson came to Monterey in 1879 to court his wife-to-be, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne. This building, then the French Hotel, was where he stayed while reputedly devising his novel Treasure Island. The boarding-house rooms were primitive and Stevenson was still a penniless unknown. The building is currently only open on Saturday afternoons from April to October, but the pretty gardens – especially at the rear of the property – are still worth a look.