The Finch-Fleischer House is one of the few remaining intact examples of early American building styles in Monterey, a town known for its collection of early Spanish/Mexican adobe structures. Built by the Finch family in 1870, the house embodies a Classical Revival mode with eclectic features common to the period of construction. As early settlers, the Finch family influenced ranching in the nearby Carmel Valley and commerce in Monterey.
James William Finch and his brother Charles arrived in California via the Overland Trail in 1854. The brothers established a stock ranch in the Jamesburg section of Carmel Valley. James Finch was a stove maker and iron worker by trade, in addition to being a stock-raiser. During the Civil War, Finch supplied horses to the Federal Army. In 1870, the Finch brothers built the Finch-Fleischer House for their mother. After her death in 1881, James Finch and his wife Ellen moved into the house, adding a northern wing and rear kitchen. Alma, one of James and Ellen Finch’s two children, lived in the house for many years with her son and husband, Charles Fleischer. The Finch-Fleischer families actively participated in local social activities, including amateur melodramas at Monterey’s First Theatre. The family routinely returned to live at the Jamesburg ranch, and the house was sublet; one notable renter was artist Charles Rollo Peters, well known for his nocturnal painting of Monterey adobes.