Wickett's collection had an old adobe building

There were two basic types of adobe construction in the old days. One was the more familiar adobe brick structure like the Sanchez Adobe in Pacifica.

Another was done by making a double wooden wall and filling the space between with adobe mud. The idea would be something like our poured concrete of today, only with the wooden forms left in place. This second method was used in a herdsman’s shack on the Las Pulgas Rancho.

It originally stood on Coleman Avenue near Ringwood Road in Menlo Park. Since it was built so long ago, the boards used on it were no doubt hand hewn redwood from that area.

It measured 10 by 30 feet with a flat slanted roof.

The structure was something of a hybrid, with upright studs and slats running horizontally.

In 1956, the Menlo Park property was being developed for homes and the old adobe was slated to be razed when in stepped wealthy Atherton Realtor John Wickett.

Wickett was on the Board of Directors of the San Mateo County Historical Association at the time. He bought the adobe and had it gingerly picked up for moving. Ah, but where? His plan had been to put it next to his office on El Camino Real in Atherton.

He said he would fix it up and keep it open for visitors, but the city wanted no part of it. No building inspector in any city would accept such a substandard structure, so Wickett hauled it up Kings Mountain to Skeggs Point and planted it where he owned some property. Presumably it was beyond the reach of building restrictions there.

Wickett was born rich. His grandfather was a cofounder of New York Life Insurance Company. He did not follow his father into the family business after graduating from Stanford University in 1938, but went into real estate. He seemed to have always had a wide range of interests, but his tastes turned more Bohemian as he grew older. He allowed the Kings Mountain Art Fair to use his red barn until fire destroyed his historic old logging mill in 1964.

Wickett used the adobe to house an FM radio station he founded with Gary Gielow and James Gabert in 1957.

That was KPEN, which became K101 in 1968. By then it had outgrown its quarters in the adobe. His son Jim stayed on at the Woodside property for a time.

John moved to San Francisco and began collecting artifacts on his travels that eventually became his Museum of Exotica on Sutter Street. The museum operated without any advertising or signs, and admission depended on whether or not you were a friend of the owner. He had an eclectic mix of erotic and just curious objects from around the world, including local Laughing Sal from Playland-at-the-Beach. Since John’s death, his Sal has been sold to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Now whatever happened to that historic adobe that John Wickett saved from destruction in 1956? I understand it still stands retired in good condition on the family property.

They say it’s not much to look at now because the building has been tented with a plywood superstructure to protect it. It hasn’t really been used for anything since the radio station days.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 2200 Broadway, Redwood City.