Welcome to Robbie Adobe!
How Edith Wharton changed my life
Happy Sunday and welcome to Robbie Adobe’s new Substack! First, I must begin with a thank you. Thank you for following and connecting with me via Instagram, in real life, and anywhere in between. Without your support and community, Robbie Adobe wouldn’t be what it is today. Through this newsletter, I will share interesting insights, personal musings, and facilitate meaningful conversations centered on Southern California’s unique architectural heritage. Together, we’ll explore the architects, residents, and cities of California to learn more about the historical and architectural landscape around us.
My passion for architecture and design was first catalyzed by the works of Edith Wharton. Together with Ogden Codman, Wharton would publish The Decoration of Houses in 1897, which would become the seminal book on interior design and design practices in the post-Victorian era. In this book, the principals of architectural design and planning were underscored to create interiors based on classical design principals rather than conspicuous Victorian consumption. Wharton would implement these aesthetic directives in The Mount, her country home in the Berkshires, which was based on Belton House, a Restoration style country house in Lincolnshire, England.
This isn’t the only Wharton tome that influenced by love for architecture and design—The Age of Innocence, The Custom of the Country, and Old New York all left an indelible mark on my imagination that would influence how I perceive and engage with design in the world. These works taught me a nuanced vocabulary of design terms and functions—words like “Biedermeier,” “jardiniere,” and “Crown Derby,” titillated my mind and inspired my creativity. These words didn’t just signify design styles, objects, or a porcelain manufacturer, but concrete physical connections to the lofty world of aesthetics and style, and I knew that this was the world for me.
My professional background is based in writing and education. After earning my MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, I’ve worked in higher education while pursuing my twin passions for writing and design on the side. This newsletter will help me further center architecture, writing, and creativity in my own life, and I feel so privileged to be able to share my insights, musings, and research with all of you. It is my dream to become a full-time writer and author; if you’re ever looking for a freelance social media strategist or content writer, please connect with me as I would love to learn more about your project and help share your story.
And, yet, what is Robbie Adobe? To begin, let’s get hooked on phonics with a pronunciation lesson. My last name is Robbie, which is Scottish, and is pronounced to rhyme with “adobe” instead of rhyming with “hobby,” like we’re used to saying. However, “adobe” also highlights the layered and multifaceted histories of California from the colonial period to the present day, and the name of this project provides a link to these past histories and personal stories. I, myself, have a mixture of Mexican and White ancestry, which may explain why I’m so enamored with the Monterey Colonial style that combines the seemingly disparate Hispanic and Anglo architectural canons into a new, dynamic form perfectly adapted to the California landscape.
I first started my Robbie Adobe Instagram account in 2018 as place to share my architecture, interior design, and style sensibilities. I was living out in Palm Springs at the time, surrounded by palm trees and clean lined midcentury modern architecture, and this minimalist milieu provided the perfect backdrop for me to dive into these important histories. My early posts were rather impersonal, image-based content with little writing included. I wanted the images and my curation to speak for themselves, however, I soon learned that it’s the writer’s personal touch and connections that truly allow readers to form bonds with the words on the page or screen.
In early 2024, I turned a new creative leaf and began to include more longform writing and personal insights into my posts, which has allowed me to further connect and engage with my architecture-centered community. As a creative, I’ve always been drawn to writing and design centered spaces, yet have shied away from the spotlight. No more! Now’s my time to shine as a writer and creative—watch out, world!
Now that you’re here, what can you expect?
Robbie Adobe is built around several central themes, and our new Substack will focus on celebrating the architecture, architects, interior design, and landscape design of Southern California, with an eye on its preservation and revitalization. With my keen eye for detail, a knack for research, and a passion for design, I can promise you that each post will be a candid love letter to each topic covered. I’ll also be including regular personal essays on life, work, travel, you name it so I can continue to flex my vulnerability muscle with you all. These personal posts may eventually only be available to subscribers yet will be available to all readers while we’re first starting out.
If you’re able to support me with a subscription starting at $8 a month, it will make a genuine difference to the amount of time that I’m able to dedicate to Robbie Adobe and sharing my writing, research, and content with you. Feel free to share my Substack to help spread the word and grow our community. Thank you for all your support and readership—up and away!
