Marguerite Linam Downer

1920 -- 2011

Marguerite Downer, fondly known as Maggie, died peacefully at home on November 12th in Carmel in the company of loved ones who had gathered from near and far to comfort her in her final days. A woman of exceptional beauty and strong character, Maggie lived life to the fullest, traveled the world, and accomplished things that caused even her to wonder aloud from time to time if it all had really happened.

Born in Mooringsport, Louisiana in 1920, Marguerite Linam at age 16 fell for William Webster Downer, dashing Captain of the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M. A two-minute service at a town office while on a teenage date commenced a joyful marriage lasting 69 years, until Web’s death in 2006.

Feminine and glamorous, Maggie nonetheless loved nothing more than to roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty, especially on an historic renovation project. In the 1940s, while Web earned a Masters degree at M.I.T., Maggie restored a colonial house on Oxford Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. To this day it is the much-admired birthplace of William Eustis, a state Governor in the 19th century. In typical Maggie can-do fashion, she simultaneously raised two young children and modeled part time for newspapers and fashion shows. She next worked her magic in California. While living in San Francisco, Maggie saved a rural schoolhouse for her family’s vacation use; the one-room Red Schoolhouse is now a prize of the Nacasio Historical Society of Marin County.

While Web was a US Army attache in Belgrade during the 1950’s, Maggie embraced the traditional materials and craftsmanship she discovered in Europe, developing an aesthetic which enriched her future projects. Later in Washington DC she was among the first to renovate early American townhouses in the Capitol Hill district that has since been declared an historic neighborhood.

Having fallen in love with the Monterey Peninsula’s natural beauty and rich history, Maggie moved here in 1961, allowing her career in historic preservation to take root and blossom. She made a local name for herself committing to ambitious projects that many better-educated, more influential players deemed hopeless. She had the confidence of a field marshal, and a gift for motivating others to help her achieve "the impossible,” often to the amazement of the nay-sayers.

Among the many treasured local buildings Maggie helped preserve are the little red schoolhouse in Moss Landing; the Boston Store and Picket Fence; the First Episcopal Church (now the Mayo Hayes O’Donnell Library); the Doud House and Perry House in historic Monterey, subsequently renamed the Perry-Downer House when Maggie and Web gifted the stately Victorian to the Monterey History and Art Association. The Cooper Molera Adobe and the Casa Amesti were restored when she served on the Advisory Committee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Against steep odds, Maggie and Fred Farr successfully spearheaded the preservation of Carmel’s Tor House, the former home of poet Robinson Jeffers.

Her inexhaustible energy and tasteful vision enriched outdoor spaces as well as buildings in historic Monterey. Maggie founded the Historic Garden League, creating such gems as the Sensory Garden and the Casa Del Oro Garden. She also served on the board of the Monterey History and Art Association.

Her official honors are too numerous to list here, but highlights include the Laura Bride Powers Award, Outstanding Achievement from the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the first ever Living Legacies distinction from California State Parks. In 2007, the Community Foundation of Monterey County presented her with its highest honor, the Distinguished Trustee Award. Maggie was equally proud to have been a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, a nation-wide supporter of historic preservation.

She will be remembered by many area residents for her infectious enthusiasm for life, her mischievous sense of humor and her passion for promoting her progeny’s superhuman “talents” ad naseum to anyone willing to endure it.

Maggie Downer is survived by daughter Elizabeth “Libby” Downer Simpson of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and her husband Daniel Simpson; son Charles Downer of Cambridge, Massachusetts; grandchildren Leslie Dunton-Downer also of Cambridge, John Dunton-Downer of London, England and his wife Ana-María Vera; Elizabeth Downer of New York and her husband David Riker; Ahab Charles Downer of Victoria, the Republic of Seychelles and his wife Sophie Downer; and six great-grandchildren: Jordan Tucker Rountree, Leila Riker, Maria Riker, Naira Mar Dunton-Vera, Elissa Downer, and Léander Downer.

Maggie’s friends are invited to a memorial celebration with remembrances which will be held in the garden at The Perry Downer House, 201 Van Buren Street, Monterey, from 3-6pm on Sunday December 4th.

Memorial donations will be gratefully received by The Historic Garden League of Monterey or The Community Foundation of Monterey County.

Arrangements under the direction of The Paul Mortuary, Pacific Grove, CA.