Known for its intricate tile work and stunning grounds, the Adamson House is tucked between world-famous Surfrider Beach and the Malibu Lagoon, and has been a jewel on the Southern California shore since 1931.
In recent years, the house’s reputation has become somewhat tarnished in Malibu, with stakeholders such as Malibu Adamson House Foundation (MAHF) members, volunteer docents and State Parks officials squabbling over money, timelines and priorities of how to preserve and popularize the property.
For newly elected MAHF Board President Lance Simmens, enough is enough.
“My goal is to wipe the scourge of this tempestuous relationship off the books so we can proceed forward,” Simmens said during a meeting with The Malibu Times on a rainy Friday in Malibu.
Simmens described what has been his greatest accomplishment since joining the foundation in January: securing a contract between State Parks and the MAHF.
Joining the board, he was shocked that there had been no contract since September 2013.
“My jaw dropped. I said ‘give me three weeks,’ and I made sure we got our end taken care of,” Simmens recalled. “I personally hand-delivered the document to [State Parks Angeles District Superintendent] Craig Sap, and worked with [State Parks Malibu Sector Superintendent] Lynette Brody very closely. We got it through Sacramento, probably in record speed.”
In three weeks, Simmens had the MAHF part of the contract squared away. By March, a contract had been signed.
According to Brody, the contract allows the MAHF to act on its mission statement, which reads:
To provide for the inspiration and education of our visitors through interpretive activities and to assist in the preservation of the historic Adamson House. To protect the park’s extraordinary biological diversity and its most valued natural and cultural resources. To maintain ongoing and updated information of said cultural and natural history pertaining to all aspects of the Museum and House. To assist financially through fundraising activities in accomplishing the above objectives and purposes.
“For the next year after it expired, we were functioning even though it was expired. We were following through, and then in January 2015, is when the [former] acting president came in and basically was not focusing on the inspiration and education, and was really doing nothing but only wanting to focus on the restoration,” Brody described.
“We told them they have to get back to what their mission statement was,” Brody continued.
Brody also attested to Simmens’ commitment to move forward with a contract.
“Since Lance was just [elected president] in March — the end of March — I’ve met with him and we’ve got the contract signed and we’re moving forward with the three-pronged mission statement from them as a nonprofit,” Brody said.
Simmens said that a huge concern is to “shed light on the viability of this estate, to bring people into Malibu … hopefully by the busload.” In addition, he said he knows many Malibu residents have never been to the house tucked away off Pacific Coast Highway near the Civic Center.
“I want to bring [it to the] attention [of] folks in Malibu who may not be familiar,” Simmens said.
When it comes to repairs, Simmens touched on various restoration projects around the house, notably a rehabilitation of the lath house, a greenhouse-like glass structure on the grounds that has fallen into disrepair.
“Restoring this house will represent a physical manifestation of progress,” Simmens said.
The money for the restoration is being split equally between State Parks funds and MAHF contributions.
“We agreed to go half-and-half on rehab,” Simmens said, with each group pledging $70,000.
“That project is ready, the state fire marshall has already stamped it,” Brody confirmed. “Once we get money from the foundation, we can stamp it.”
Simmens estimated, after clearing up funding and finding a contractor, work on the lath house could begin as early as November 2016.
That’s not to say work hasn’t been going on at the house. Since the governor allocated nearly $250,000 to detect and repair leaks on the property in the 2015 budget, a leak study has taken place that just ended in March of this year.
“It’s been going on since basically November of 2015 and it’ll be going forward,” Brody described.
Brody also announced a curator for the house was just selected this week — a position that has been vacant for years.
“I just hired a new curator for the property and he’ll start on May 10,” Brody said. “He will be the person that’s supervisor of the volunteers once he gets on board.”
When it comes to reflecting on the issues that led to docent walkouts and turnover on the MAHF board, Simmens said that was not his concern.
“I’m not going to spend not one nanosecond talking about personalities or what happened in the past,” Simmens said, later adding, “What I’m trying to do here, in a very proactive and forceful way, is to change the dynamic between these organizations so we can get the house back to where it needs to be.”
