[13] Adamson was raised to love the outdoors, and, riding horseback, she partook of activities such as sheep-herding with her father on the Malibu Ranch.
[1] The organization thrived throughout the Great Depression, as milk consumption was bolstered by Prohibition,[32] though the beef ranch side of the enterprise was forced into bankruptcy.
He was a mere milkman with Adohr, yet became known for the funny voices and sound effects he produced to the delight of children on his delivery route.
He hence became Whistling Clarence, and was tasked with riding in a wagon drawn by miniature horses through the streets of Los Angeles, dispensing treats to children.
[38] The Tarzana farm and additional farmland in Kern County, California,[39] meanwhile, provided the room necessary to grow feed for the livestock and allow them out to pasture.
[33] In 1929, the couple commissioned Stiles O. Clements to build them a weekend and summer home on 13 acres in Malibu that Rhoda's mother had gifted them.
Two Danish painters, Ejnar Hansen and Peter Nielsen, hand-painted doors, cupboards, and other surfaces in the house, while John Holtzclaw, an interior decorator, worked to create a cohesive home for the Adamsons, coordinating furnishings with textiles, the Danish painters' work, and the abundant Malibu tile.
In 1948, imminent post-war suburbia began infringing on the Tarzana dairy operation, and the Adamsons owed money to creditors.
Merritt hence sold the Tarzana dairy property to builders who planned to divide the land into parcels for construction of low-cost housing for veterans.
[51] In preparation, original dairy structures were dismantled, including its three 31-year-old silos, which had to be razed with the help of the Los Angeles County Fire Department Demolition Squad and a significant amount of dynamite.
[53] The same year, Adohr published a cookbook called Milk-Maid Recipes from Adohr, with recipes ranging from Butter Crunch Cake, Southern Spoon Bread, Hot Peppermint Chocolate, Purple Cow Soda, Sour Cream Raisin Pudding, and Cornmeal Soufflé to Boston-Style Scalloped Fish, Asparagus With Lemon Sauce, Cheese Salmon Loaf, English Lamb Chops, and Cheese Ham Casserole.
Rhoda's dairy continued under the Adohr Farms name into the 1990s or early 2000s, though the original buildings in the San Fernando Valley had long-since been demolished, starting in 1948,[52] and the family had sold the business in 1966.
Additionally, Rhoda-May formed the Adamson Company with her siblings, Sylvia and Merritt, an organization to manage the family's real estate holdings.
It was a continuation, in effect, of their grandmother and mother's Marblehead Land Co., which had been formed to manage the original Rindge real estate holdings.
For example, Merritt Jr. was part of a successful fight against the prospective construction of a nuclear power plant in Malibu's Corral Canyon.
[33] Also in the '60s, he wanted to "carry out a master plan he and his partners--his two sisters--secretly commissioned in 1965: a proposal by prominent architect William L. Pereira to develop much of Malibu with clusters of houses set off by huge natural preserves from surrounding large estates."
No sooner had the transaction been completed, then the state declared they would be demolishing the home to make it a parking lot for the surfers, as surf culture had exploded in the 1950s and '60s, creating a demand for automobile access to the area.
[7] It made no difference that the home was a masterpiece of Stiles O. Clements, nor was it considered remarkable, in the state's eyes, in its lineage tied to the Rindge family.
It is also the site of weddings and special events, yet remains completely intact, as it was in the Adamson Family's tenure, complete with their belongings, from Rhoda's I. Magnin's and Bullock's dresses, Haviland & Co. dishware, and Adohr Farms milk bottles, to original bedspreads, Barker Bros. furniture, and Merritt Adamson's map collection.