18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 20-26, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com fit for a town known for its bohemian roots and arts community. They tapped Seavey to be its first curator. A 1967 Monterey Peninsula Herald article said the Carmel Museum of Art “is about to take concrete form, adding a new dimension to the cultural life of the Peninsula community.” The Whites purchased a former bank building on Dolores Street between Ocean and 7th, now known as the China Art Building, for $150,000, Seavey says. He began working out the remodeling details and working with a contractor. The goal was to open the museum on July 4, 1967. Seavey told the Herald reporter that the plan was “to construct a permanent collection of first-rate examples of work by the most representative painters of the Peninsula art colony in the era between 1870 and 1930s,” which would encompass artists from Jules Tavernier to Armin Hansen. It was also planned to show rotating collections in a smaller room, plus a library. Programming would include lectures and publications related to exhibits. The museum did open in 1967, then closed in 1969 due to a lack of funds. A few months later, in January 1970, Anthony White, chair of the Carmel Museum of Art board, accepted a prestigious award from the American Association for State and Local History for creating collections “that preserve the rich cultural heritage of the Monterey Peninsula.” After the closure, the Whites wanted to donate the entire art collection and the building to the city. On Jan. 8, 1970, the Monterey Peninsula Herald reported on a Carmel City Council meeting where councilmembers discussed putting the matter up to voters to decide. Seavey outlined to the council how the collection, estimated in value at $75,000, would be deeded to the city. He also estimated annual operating expenses at $25,000. The museum corporation would continue to operate, raising money to erase $80,000 in mortgage debt and another $16,000 debt for the renovations. Councilmembers were hesitant but they voted 5-0 to have Seavey help draw up a ballot measure. But the measure never made it to the ballot. One of the main opponents was councilmember Gunnar Norberg, who went on to become Carmel’s mayor in 1976. Seavey tells the story, imitating Norberg’s low, gruff voice. “‘Carmel has enough art,’” Seavey recalls the councilmember saying. The building was sold in August 1970 and the entire collection was donated to the Oakland Museum of Art. Seavey went into private practice, doing historic inventories for California cities, mainly in Northern California. He moved from Carmel to Pacific Grove, purchasing his first home, the Victorian where he still resides. The purchase was another one of his happy accidents, through encounters with people who guided him toward the successful sale. One of P.G.’s prominent residents, Elmarie Dyke, known as “Mrs. Pacific Grove,” founder of the Pacific Grove Art Center and member of the County’s historic preservation board, lobbied to have Seavey hired as the first historical coordinator for the County of Monterey. He worked for several years on various projects, including the creation of San Lorenzo County Park in King City, home to the Monterey County Agricultural and Rural Life Museum. Seavey’s military background proved helpful in at least one project, preserving the Dutton Hotel in Jolon. It was a rammed earth structure and over time the earth was melting away and needed to be covered. Seavey had already noticed a series of cedar poles running diagonally through the rifle range at nearby Fort Hunter Liggett. There was also leftover plywood from other projects in good condition. Between the poles and the plywood, there was enough to cover what was left of the hotel. He approached the commanding officer with a proposal. “I show up as county historical coordinator, but also as master gunnery sergeant Marines, and have a talk with the colonel,” Seavey remembers. It did not go well at first—the Army colonel made a crack about the Marines being a $60 million Navy accounting error. Determined, Seavey offered to solve the problem of the poles blocking the rifle range by removing them for free. The colonel sent him up the chain of command. After a general told him to go back to the colonel, Seavey called then-U.S. representative Leon Panetta. Seavey got the materials. The Dutton project, budgeted for $50,000, only cost around $15,000. Despite Seavey’s success in the county job, he ruffled feathers of some higher-ups along the way by standing up for what he believed was in the best interests of the public and preserving the county’s historical assets. He was the only employee laid off after Proposition 13 passed in 1978. He went on to chair the Monterey County Historical Advisory Commission. While the county continues to draw visitors to attractions like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Big Sur, beaches, plus major golf and car events, Seavey sees another profitable draw: cultural tourism. “Monterey is the first capital of California. We have more adobes in Monterey County than anywhere else in California—we have 36,” he says. “The Amalfi? We’ve got Big Sur along with a bridge that is known internationally. So we’re an incredible tourist draw.” Inland, Salinas—the birthplace of author John Steinbeck—is rich with history and culture, and Seavey has been working for decades to amplify and protect the city’s assets. It was Seavey who wrote the 1989 Historical and Architectural Resources Survey and Preservation Plan for Salinas, chronicling landmarks and historic buildings. It is still used as a reference today. “Last year we had 35 or 40 preservationists that came down as a group and we toured Salinas and everybody at the end of the day said, ‘Jesus, this is amazing!’ And so now the City is beginning to realize and has a Historic Preservation Commission, small but good,” he says. In 2024, Salinas officials approved a survey of historic buildings citywide. Seavey on the porch of his Pacific Grove Victorian home, where he’s lived since the early 1970s. He proudly displays a U.S. Marines flag in honor of his 30 years, mostly in the Reserves. Seavey peers into one of the Cannery Row workers’ cabins that he helped restore and furnish in 2008. “And my life has been somewhat like that, happy, happy accidents.” DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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