Adamson House

The Adamson House and its associated land, which was known as Vaquero Hill in the nineteenth century, is a historic house and gardens in Malibu, California. The residence and estate is on the coast, within Malibu Lagoon State Beach park.It has been called the "Taj Mahal of Tile" due to its extensive use of decorative ceramic tiles created by Rufus Keeler of Malibu Potteries. The house was built in 1929 for Rhoda Rindge Adamson and Merritt Huntley Adamson, based on a Mediterranean Revival design by Stiles O. Clements of the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls & Clements. The Adamson House was designated as California Historical Landmark No. 966 around 1977, and added to the National Register of Historic Places around 1985.HistoryRindge-Adamson familyFrederick Hastings Rindge was a wealthy Boston businessman who relocated to Los Angeles, and owned the "Rindge Ranch," which included the historic Spanish land concession Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit, enlarged by subsequent land purchases surrounding the ranch. The Rindge Ranch thus encompassed present day Malibu, California, and small portions of the Santa Monica Mountains. His daughter was Rhoda Agatha Rindge Adamson.