Monterey History and Art Association

Monterey History and Art Association - Founding of MHAA

Monterey History and Art Association's - Celebrating 75 years preserving the Heritage of California's first capital.

The Founding of MHAA

Monterey’s venerable adobe buildings have been put to many uses – shops, offices, and perhaps most frequently, restaurants.

In the late 1920s, the Serrano family rented Casa Serrano to the Cademartorie family, who enlarged the building, added an inside kitchen, and opened a restaurant. The place was popular with Monterey citizens who loved the old buildings, and it was there, over dinner, that Laura Pride Powers, Carmel Martin, and a few other prominent residents founded the Monterey History & Art Association.

Eventually, Cademartorie’s moved out to Tarpy Flats on the Salinas highway (a restaurant still occupies that space), and two other restaurants occupied Casa Serrano – De La Torre and the Casa Serrano Restaurant. In 1958, the MHAA bought the building… the rest is history.

To learn more about Casa Serrano, click here.

events

about MHAA

facility rental

support us

membership

press room