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Spotlight on Robin Lakin
September/October 2024
 Robin Lakin. Photo by Celia Conover |
There are three historic places in San Diego that Robin Lakin equates to being her childhood home and she has never resided in any of them. The Whaley House Museum, Mission San Diego de Alcalá, and the Academy of Our Lady of Peace represent the most significant events and memories of her youth. They also shaped her future endeavors in museum operations and historic preservation.
A childhood drive past the Whaley House provided Robin with her first glimpse of a historic building, the gateway for her curiosity about Old Town and California history. When she was an adolescent, her family adopted Mission San Diego de Alcalá as their parish church. There, within the old adobe walls, she became attuned to important early regional history and a sense of community. Her rigorous high school education at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace included extensive volunteer experiences and helped cement her appreciation of historic buildings.
She has visited all of California’s 21 missions and other state historic sites, as well as heritage landmarks in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington.
Robin began her SOHO journey as a volunteer docent for the Whaley House in 2001; she was soon hired as a head docent. Being a self-described history detective with a love of writing and research, Robin has contributed to SOHO’s interpretation of the Whaley House and Adobe Chapel, both in Old Town; Warner-Carrillo Ranch House, and the Marston House through interpretive and video scripts, docent training materials, educational programming, social media contributions, and articles.
Robin took on the role of the Marston House Museum & Gardens site manager in 2021, where she wears as many hats as would fill Mrs. Marston’s hat boxes. These include volunteer coordinator, museum services and museum shop operations, SOHO special events, after-hours VIP private and specialty tours, and wedding and event rentals.
Robin considers her most rewarding tasks to be the acting Marston House and Marston family historian, assisting Executive Director Bruce Coons with architectural history research, and the cataloging and maintenance of SOHO and museum collections as part of the registrar team. She has transcribed hundreds of letters in the Whaley Papers collection, an ongoing endeavor. Her writing for SOHO’s bimonthly Our Heritage eNews includes her ongoing series “The Marstons - A California Family.” Through this project, which to date includes 14 chapters, she has expanded her knowledge of this amazing family and their seemingly never-ending contributions to San Diego. Her hobbies include sewing, art, reading, visiting historic places and museums, exploring cemeteries, and researching online archival and genealogical sites.
Robin lives at the Marston House with her husband David, who is the Marston House caretaker and facilities manager. Together, they handle the daily maintenance and upkeep of the 8,500-square-foot Arts and Crafts home and museum shop, a responsibility they consider to be an immense privilege.
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