{"nrhp_refnum":"77000311","name":"Merritt, Josiah, Adobe","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"386 Pacific St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Monterey","county":"Monterey County","state":"CA","lat":36.60115664400007,"lon":-121.89554863099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story adobe residence at 386 Pacific Street in Monterey, California, built before 1852 and later given a Greek Revival temple-form front. It was once the home of Josiah Merritt and is also known as the Merritt House.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an excellent, and perhaps the only, example of Greek Revival temple form applied to the adobe construction of Mexican California. It also reflects the quick imposition of American architectural forms on traditional Mexican California buildings. It is associated with Josiah Merritt, the first Monterey County Judge (1851-1854).","narrative":"Built before 1852 on Pacific Street in Monterey, this small adobe combines a traditional Mexican California building with a Greek temple front. After Juana de Castro, wife of Josiah Merritt, bought the property at a sheriff's sale in 1852, the one or one-and-one-half story structure was enlarged to two stories. A three-pillared, pedimented facade was added to the east end, while the traditional exterior staircase on the north wall was kept for access to the upper rooms. The building measures about 20 by 32 feet on each floor, which helps explain the use of three pillars rather than four or six. A rear addition was made before 1948. The nomination argues that no other California adobe is known to use the Greek temple form this way. Merritt, a New York lawyer who reached Monterey in 1850, helped organize Monterey County in 1851 and served as its first County Judge until 1854. The building is still used for business and professional purposes.","period_of_significance":"Prior to 1852","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Greek Revival temple form applied to Mexican California adobe","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as still in active use as a business and professional building; the Southern Historic District realignment excluded it from its earlier protection.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.063161-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000311.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000311/f4f711b34c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000311/f4f711b34c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Robert W. Kerrigan, photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merritt_House_(Monterey,_CA).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert W. Kerrigan, photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merritt_House_(Monterey,_CA).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859934","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Merritt_Adobe","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14682535"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/monterey-county/merritt-josiah-adobe-77000311/"}