Nearly 140 locals turned out for last Sunday evening’s Adamson House fundraiser, a joint effort of the Malibu Adamson House Foundation, Malibu Film Society and California State Parks. The event featured brief tours of the historic Adamson House given by volunteer docents, hors d’oeuvres catered by Monrose, wines from the local Rosenthal Winery and a silent auction. The Malibu Film Society kicked off its 8th season with an outdoor showing of “The Maltese Falcon (1941)” next to the beach, with a bright half-moon overhead.
Lance Simmens, head of the Malibu Adamson House Foundation, pronounced the event a smashing success.
“Our major goal in having this event was to show everyone in Malibu that the Adamson House is back,” Simmens said. “We’ve been working very aggressively to make this place a focal point for residents and non-residents alike.
“I hope we created a buzz about how the Adamson House can play an integral role in the community once again,” Simmens continued. “The feeling I got among the crowd was, ‘This is great; we need to do more of this.’”
Among the crowd during cocktail hour were new and old members of the community, board members of the Adamson House and film society, a board member of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce and four of the candidates running for Malibu City Council.
“I think it was a great way to launch the new Malibu Film Society season, and it was a beautiful venue,” film society member Stu Halperin said. “It was the perfect film to complement the venue, and Scott Tallal did a great job of setting up the film with his talk and anecdotes about the movie. And the old Merrie Melodies cartoon in advance of the film was great.”
In recent years, before Simmens took over as head of the board last January, the politics surrounding the Adamson House had gotten nasty, with a large percentage of volunteer docents walking out, State Parks and foundation members not communicating, and rumors that the property was not being properly maintained or managed. Last Sunday’s fundraising event was essentially the Adamson House’s coming out party after those problems had been resolved.
“Some people I talked to said, ‘I haven’t been here in 25 or 30 years,’” Simmens said. “A woman I talked to by the gift shop pointed out a tree that her mother had planted many years ago as a docent. You get the feeling there are a lot of people in the community who had affection for this place at one time.
“We have a very aggressive board now, with a close working relationship with State Parks, which was nonexistent for many years,” Simmens noted. “The Adamson House had no curator for eight years, and now we’ve got one.”
Simmens also said other groups and individuals in the city have shown an interest in the home.
“I was stressing to a member of the Chamber of Commerce Board that there’s a very strong economic and business aspect to having a vibrant Adamson House; and having people come to it should benefit the business community of Malibu,” Simmens explained. “We do about 40 weddings a year there, which are sometimes scheduled two years in advance — attesting to the desirability of the venue — and we want to share that with the public.
“The venue is absolutely stunning, with Surfrider Beach, the Malibu Lagoon, the pier and all the communities you can see in the distance. There hasn’t been enough appreciation of this venue, which is right under peoples’ noses,” Simmens said.
Lynette Brody, Malibu sector superintendent for California State Parks, said one of their goals in co-sponsoring the event was to build back the program of volunteer docents and “get the community involved with and more aware of what’s happening at the Adamson House,” which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a California Historical Landmark.
“We lost three-quarters of our volunteers — we only have 20 volunteers and we want 75,” Brody explained. “State Parks closed the Wednesday and Thursday public tours because of a lack of volunteers, so Friday and Saturday tours are overwhelmingly busy.”
To that end, State Parks is offering an intensive six-week docent training program for interested volunteers beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 27, and ending Nov. 1. Classes will meet once a week for three and a half hours. Anyone interested can email ah.volunteers@parks.ca.gov.
