THE PRESERVATIONIST WHO WAS A NEOTERIC!
Frances embraced treasured design aesthetics and inspired the rise of eclectic design in your home and mine by blending periods, styles, and cultures. She championed innovative new design industries, resources and in today’s world would probably be listening to the increasingly loud whispers of AI as it moves into the profession of Interior Design. Frances was open to the explorations of the old and the new!
There is adobe in Monterrey and then there is more adobe. The simple adobe mud bricks are built out of the soil that surrounds their foundations which then rise into picturesque homes and when built in walls two to three feet thick it gives protection against heat and cold. Massive walls of chipped paint and gnarled stones protect secluded courtyards and near one of Monterrey’s busy intersections stands the Casa Amesti, a house destined for stardom!
The Star Maker: Frances!
Hard to believe, but in 1834 this house started out with only four rooms. Jose Amesti envisioned a grand home for his wife Prudencia and their daughters. Jose added four more rooms opposite the original set and then he continued his dream with an upper veranda across the front and the back facades supported by slim square columns in 1853——long before Frances was born.
Frances was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second child of Issac and Therese Adler. Isaac successfully manufactured men’s clothing and when offered an executive position by Sears Roebuck moved his family to Chicago, IL Therese turned traveling into an avocation, taking Frances and her brother to Europe for months at a time as they absorbed art and culture. David, six years senior to Frances set a high standard for artistic excellence eventually becoming a student at Princeton University although showing no signs of academic excellence.
David Adler
The University archivist said, “He began by flunking almost everything and for some time was in the sixth group, which is the absolute bottom. Then he began to pick up and in his senior year was actually in the first group.” Apparently the University did not drop him, he passed the failed courses and graduated.
David and friends sailed for Europe to study architecture in Munich, eventually enrolling at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the foremost art and architecture school in the world. Again, David never bothered to take exams or submit dissertations, instead he traveled throughout the country on his bicycle collecting over 500 architectural post cards while using his photographic memory to retain styles and details.
He returned to Chicago with another student Henry Dangler to form a partnership. David’s first commission was a doozy as his rich and benevolent Uncle Carl Stonehill requested a sizable mansion. It was a major triumph and happily it was authorized to be built because David could not legally sign his own plans——he had no degree, no license——but Henry did and signed David’s plans until unexpectedly, Henry died. David was forced to sit for examinations to become a registered architect in the state of Illinois.
He failed, and failed, and eventually through the prestige of his masterful designs, the state granted him a license in 1928 for “Demonstrated Skill”.
Without question, David’s architectural career was exceptional, dazzling, virtuosic, and intelligent. There are many humorous stories resulting from his lack of scale in actual building elevations creating havoc for draftsmen but the final building renditions were superb. His many successes would take over a complete design blog, but David and Frances did work together on numerous projects.
While David was studying in Europe, the teenage Frances travelled back and forth across the Continent studying with great and near-great pianists. Frances was reported to be exceptionally talented but her career was curtailed when it was decided her hands were too small for a long professional career on the concert stage.
Frances Adler Elkins
In 1918 Frances married Felton Elkins a socialite polo player and in that same year they purchased the Casa Amesti in Monterrey, CA for $5000.00. The marriage was not a success resulting in Felton deeding the house to Frances in 1923, and the birth of a decorator and the legacy she left to us.
When Frances and Felton bought Casa Amesti, it was clearly a rambling wreck but to Frances that doddering 1834 adobe spelled challenge!
Friendship and harmony described the lifelong relationship between Frances and her brother David. It was put into full force as they began their aspirations and goals for the “rambling wreck”. They removed the rear exterior staircase and replaced it was a new interior staircase, along with a little “Renaissance stairway in the sitting room off of the bar”.
Example: Model of a type of Renaissance Staircase
A dumbwaiter made food accessible from the first floor kitchen to the second floor’s butler’s pantry. Bathrooms and closets were added, woodwork and hardware was replaced, and a new heating and electrical system was installed. Living room floor boards were replaced with new redwood boards and steel floor supports added. An outbuilding was constructed with garage and laundry. The grey desolate streetscape was replaced with lines of yew trees and when in full bloom, they formed an arcade of shade. It is a masterpiece of historic preservation and design.
Casa Amesti with newly planted yew trees.
The Gods of Design in Pebble Beach, Carmel, and Monterrey loftily smiled on themselves for centering Frances in their midst. The completed Casa Amesti captured the imaginations of decorating clients. They did not have to vicariously pour over magazines with black and white renderings; there was someone just down the road for ideas. They could visit her home, the Casa Amesti, Frances’ Design shop in the Robert Louis Stevenson dwelling or call her for insightful design conceptions for their homes. And they did!
Designated Robert Louis Stevenson House in the Casa
Casa Amesti was deeded to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1953 by Frances. My husband and I received the Trust’s permission to spend one week photographing and researching the property in Monterrey. We also needed to inform the Old Capitol Men’s Club of our permission. This Club leases Casa Amesti for their private weekly use and serves week-day lunches to members with a full staff of three chefs.
We could work in the morning’s and afternoons towards evenings during the week. On weekends, the Trust offers tours of the Casa. We often were racing out the door every day at 11:30 a.m. with cameras and books to make sure we were completely away before Club members arrived.
We were soon to experience Monterrey first-hand because one week after our visit with Katie Elkins Boyd in Hillsborough, CA.* I unlocked the door to Casa Amesti, turning back the clock to the 1930’s decorating world of Frances Adler Elkins and her inter-layered treasures silently waiting to be admired and photographed….
Sy’s Salient Points:
There are many examples of Renaissance Style staircases. Some are circular, others were ramp-like staircases designed to prevent bottlenecks. One stair was used to ascend and one to descend.
* Reference to Blog # “A DAUGHTER AND HER MOTHER”— Introduction to the esteemed decorator Frances Elkins during a fireside chat in the home of Kathryn Elkins Boyd.
Coming soon: Part Three——The Casa Amesti
Happy Halloween Blaire Darling