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Perry-Downer House and
Costume Gallery
The Perry-Downer House Costume Gallery will
be closed for a comprehensive inventory of the collection until further
notice. With more than
5,000 items, the collection includes artifacts
from the area’s original families and is maintained
by the volunteers of the costume committee.
One
of Monterey’s great historic homes, this unique example of an early
frame house was built in 1860 by a whaling captain, Manuel Perry, and
his wife Mary de Mello Silva of Boston. The house was remodeled around
1900 from one to two stories, then again in 1966, when it was lovingly
rescued and restored by Webster and Maggie Downer. The Monterey History
& Art Association acquired it in 1997 to house its
Costume Collection.
The Historic Costumes collection is perfectly suited to the warm,
home-like setting of this mid-Victorian building. A fine example of the
popular Queen Anne style, the house retains its original porch, its
columns topped by delicate spandrel arches, bay and stained-glass
windows, wainscotted interiors, and a spiral staircase.
The building has been through several incarnations. The house built by
the Perrys received a kitchen addition in 1906. In 1910, house was
raised and a new ground floor level and foundation inserted beneath it:
its original framing of two-by-fours was insufficient to sustain the
weight of an additional floor.
When the Downers began their restoration of the house, it had been
vacant and vandalised for three years. One new two-story addition with
five-sided bay windows was added to the north elevation, and a second
added to balance it on the south side. Click
here to read about the restoration of the Perry House and Carriage
house.
The adjacent Carriage House was also
revitalized by the Downers, and given a lovely stained-glass ceiling
brought down from San Francisco.
Perry-Downer House & Costume Gallery
201 Van Buren Street
831-375-9182
Closed Indefinitely for Inventory.
Latitude: 36.603459
Longitude: -121.896165
GPS Locations by
MontereyBiz.com
The Carriage House is available for private functions;
click here to learn more.
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