Drake House is a residential care facility for the elderly at 399 Drake Avenue, Monterey, CA 93940, licensed for 55 residents under License Number 275294182. It sits a few blocks from Cannery Row, which is unusual for assisted living in Monterey.
What sets it apart is narrower than the address, though. The home describes itself as specializing in services for seniors with a mental health diagnosis, which is a different offer from most assisted living Monterey families tours.
What Are the Basic Facts on Drake House?
It is a mid-sized, long-established RCFE run by a nonprofit with a mental health mission. The licensee is Front Street Inc., which has operated under the tagline "People Helping People Since 1982," and the home has held its license since June 2006.
Fifty-five beds puts Drake House between the six-bed board and care homes scattered around the peninsula and the large campus communities. That size usually means real staffing and shared amenities without the scale of a several-hundred-unit building.
|
Detail |
Drake House |
|---|---|
|
Address |
399 Drake Avenue, Monterey, CA 93940 |
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County |
Monterey |
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License Number |
275294182 |
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License type |
Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) |
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Licensed capacity |
55 residents |
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Licensed since |
June 2006 |
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Licensee |
Front Street Inc. |
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Administrator of record |
Julie Huynh |
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Phone |
(831) 643-9069 |
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Fax |
(831) 658-0248 |
Licensing details change, so treat the table as a starting point and confirm capacity, status and the current administrator with the home when you call.
Who Is Drake House Built For?
Older adults whose mental health needs come with them into assisted living. The home states that it specializes in providing services to seniors with a mental health diagnosis, and describes its aim as healthy aging and wellness in a coastal setting.
The parent organization explains the approach in more detail. Front Street Inc. says its services lean on evidence-based, promising and emerging practices aimed at personal recovery, using a trauma-informed care approach for adults and older adults facing both aging and mental health needs.
For a family, that focus is the whole point of looking here. A home that was built around behavioral health is a different proposition from a general community that accepts a resident with a diagnosis and then struggles when a hard week arrives.
Why Does a Mental Health Focus Matter in Assisted Living?
Because mental health conditions in later life are common, treatable, and routinely missed. The CDC's Healthy Aging program, in a page reviewed in September 2024, states plainly that depression is not a normal part of aging and is a treatable medical condition that requires medical attention.
Health Conditions Stack Up
The CDC notes that depression is more common in people with medical conditions such as heart disease or cancer, in people whose daily functioning becomes limited, and in people with sleep problems. It also points out that having more than one health condition raises the odds.
That combination is the norm rather than the exception. According to the CDC, most older adults have at least one chronic health condition, and half have two or more.
Why Families Hear About It Late
The CDC lists the reasons older adults often do not seek help: they assume the symptoms are a normal part of getting older, they feel stigma or shame about being depressed, or they do not realize that the right treatment could make them feel better.
There are practical blocks on top of that, including cost, transportation, and a shortage of mental health services, plus the fact that depression in older adults is not always diagnosed or treated well. We have written more about emotional and mental health in later life and what tends to go unsaid.
What Is the Neighborhood Around Drake Avenue Like?
Coastal, walkable and busy with visitors. The home sits just blocks from Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and residents can see the bay from the outdoor patio.
Shops along Lighthouse Avenue are close enough for an ordinary errand or an afternoon out, which matters more than it sounds. A resident who can still do something normal nearby keeps a piece of their own routine.
Families searching for senior living in Pacific Grove or assisted living in Carmel are usually looking at the same stretch of coast. Drake Avenue sits inside Monterey itself, which puts hospitals, clinics and the highway within a short drive.
How Does Medical Care Work Inside an RCFE?
Residents in an RCFE keep their own doctors, and the appointments still have to happen. That is the piece families usually work out after the move rather than before.
In practice it means someone has to get your parents to appointments, or the appointments have to come to them. Visiting doctors and specialists see residents inside assisted living, which removes the transport problem and the waiting room at the same time.
That setup is worth arranging early rather than after the first incident. Our guide to home-based primary care for a homebound parent covers how in-home visits fit alongside a facility's own staff.
What Should You Ask on a Tour?
Start with the hardest hour. Ask how the home handles a behavioral health crisis at two in the morning, who makes the call, and where a resident goes if the answer is the emergency room. That one question separates a facility that genuinely works with mental health needs from one that just accepts the paperwork.
Then ask about staffing on nights and weekends, how medication support is organized, and whether any staff have training specific to behavioral health. A home with a stated mental health focus should have a straightforward answer to all three.
Ask what would end the placement, too. Every facility has a point where care needs to outgrow its license, and knowing that line in advance is far easier than discovering it during a bad month.
What Is the Next Step for Your Family?
Then read the contract before anyone signs. Our list of questions to ask about an assisted living agreement covers discharge terms, rate increases and what happens when care needs change, which are the clauses that cause the most trouble later.
If Drake House is full, or the fit is not right, a senior placement agency can shortlist other Monterey County homes that take residents with a mental health diagnosis, which is a narrower search than it looks from outside. Details on the home itself, including its brochure, are on its own page at Front St. Inc., and current openings and pricing are worth confirming by phone.
Sources Used
Depression and Aging – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024)
Drake House – Front St. Inc.
Written by Sofiia Puhach
October 30, 2026
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Address: 399 Drake Avenue, Monterey, CA 93940