{"id":16286,"date":"2017-04-07T17:56:11","date_gmt":"2017-04-08T00:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=16286"},"modified":"2017-04-07T17:56:37","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T00:56:37","slug":"filoli-gardens-a-dream-fulfilled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/filoli-gardens-a-dream-fulfilled\/","title":{"rendered":"Filoli Gardens: A Dream Fulfilled"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of strollers on a woodland path at Filoli Gardens. (Al Auger)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYou have to dream before your dreams come true\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Sigmund Freud<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

William Bowers Bourn II, is one of the least known millionaire in the gold rush history of San Francisco. He was the owner of one of California\u2019s richest gold mines and owned Spring Valley Water Company and Crystal Springs Reservoirs, supplying San Francisco\u2019s water. William Bourn also had a dream, writes our travel editor Al Auger. <\/b>\u2013 @Siliconeer #Siliconeer #Travel #Woodside #California #FiloliMansion #FiloliGarden #FiloliCaf\u00e9 #SanFranciscoBayArea #SanFrancisco #Leisure #SFBayAreaDayTrips<\/p>\n

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In 1910, William Bourn, and his wife, Agnes Moody Bourn, bought the elaborate Muckross estate in fabled County Kerry, Ireland. According to Wikipedia, the couple, while enjoying their Irish estate, dreamed of an estate like Muckross closer to their San Francisco base. Bourn hired famed designer Willis Polk, who had designed Bourn\u2019s homes in Grass Valley and on San Francisco\u2019s Webster Street.<\/p>\n

Built between 1915 and 1917, the lovely Georgian-style mansion was depicted on TV as the Carrington Mansion on the prime-time soap \u201cDynasty\u201d and as backdrop for outdoor scenes in Warren Beatty\u2019s film \u201cHeaven Can Wait.\u201d The Bourns resided in the Filoli Mansion from 1917 to 1936 when both William and Agnes died. The mansion today it is a U.S. National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n

The estate was purchased in 1937 by Mr. William P. Roth and Mrs. Lurline Matson Roth, heiress to the Matson Navigation Company. The Roths added to the luxurious Filoli Gardens with dramatic collections of camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas.<\/p>\n

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After a stroll of the wonders\u00a0of Filoli, stop at the Filoli caf\u00e9 for a refreshing beverage and reflections on your thoughts. (Al Auger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The name Filoli was created by Bourn as an acronym for \u201cFIght for a just cause; LOve your fellow man; LIve a good life.\u201d As lovely and ornate as the mansion is, the true seduction of this hidden is the creation of a garden fit for a lord of the manor. This bold and loving treasure is located in the sleepy burg of Woodside a few miles south of San Francisco.<\/p>\n

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Considered the most beautiful room of the Filoli Mansion is the Ballroom. The chandeliers are fashioned after those in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. (Daderot\/Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between 1917 and 1922, Polk\u2019s friend Bruce Porter collaborated with the Bourns in planning the expansive and expressive garden. Horticulturist Isabella Worn was the dedicated artist who created this work of art with plantings and color schemes. She supervised the maintenance of the 16-acre garden for the next 35 years. In 1975 Mrs. Roth donated the entire estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation along with a generous endowment that helps support and maintain of the estate. As a private, non-profit presided by its own Board of Governors, staff and volunteers.<\/p>\n

Because of the sheer beauty and eloquence of the gardens, I\u2019m going suggest a rather different approach to experiencing this marvelous attraction. Ignore the bus tours that clog the parking area. The army of highly knowledgeable docents are always at your beckon and call. But, let\u2019s do the stroll; Gather your friends and one of the well-stated self-guided tour\u00a0 book and saunter through the symmetry of the vivid, eye-splashing color, the warmth of walls of brick with cascading vines and imaginative gates, big and small, best described by the Latin \u201cphantasia.\u201d Stop for a quiet and reflective moment at one of the tranquil pools.<\/p>\n

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One of the quiet pools that dramatically reflects the quiet serenity of Filoli Gardens. (Al Auger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After you have ambled through the gardens, stop at the caf\u00e9 for a refreshing beverage or tea on the patio. Sit back and relax watching the beautiful resident peacock coveting his domain. If you\u2019re a home gardener, you have also watched the big band of volunteer gardeners at work. It\u2019s an enriching graduate course in horticulture that will enhance your own imagination and knowledge. These deeply involved volunteers take pleasure in getting dirty. This expanse of growing beauty is most amazing when you consider there are just fifteen full-time gardeners supported by this army of dedicated plant masters.<\/p>\n

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Beauty at Filoli Gardens is definitely in the eye of the beholder. (Al Auger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then on to the waiting mansion. While basically Georgian in style, the are many other architectural modes arrayed throughout the 36,000 square feet of the two-storied country house. The fa\u00e7ade of the courtyard and portico suggests what awaits inside. The massive front door of paneled oak is braced by marble fonts from the Bourns\u2019 San Francisco house and are copies of ones excavated from Pompeii.<\/p>\n

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A room of living beauty; a place to stop and enjoy. (Al Auger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most beautiful room, by far, is the lovingly appointed ballroom with its step-up atrium highlighted by floor-to-ceiling windows and grand piano. According to the guide book the ballroom chandeliers were custom ordered by daughter Maud Bourn and are fashioned after Louis XVI and the ones hanging in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. The overwhelming fireplace is made of Machiavelli marble and decorated with ormolu depictions of Hercules and the Nemean Lions. The mantle again takes its style from Versailles, this time the Hercules Salon.<\/p>\n

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The many gates at Filoli are fantasy-like seductions to enter this world of a tranquil nepenthe. (Al Auger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Member volunteers and student interns\u00a0support the full-time staff of fifteen horticulturists. (Al Auger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you finally engage the strength to leave this rich palette of glorious life and history that continues to grow under the caring hands of volunteers and the full-time band of fifteen staffers, the memory will be palpable forever. Filoli Gardens was a dream fulfilled.<\/p>\n

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The popular peacock at the caf\u00e9 covets his domain. (Al Auger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Going to Filoli<\/b><\/p>\n

Location:<\/b> 86 Ca\u00f1ada Road, Woodside, CA 94062. (Off 280, exit Edgewood Rd)<\/p>\n

Visitor Hours:<\/b> Tue-Sat 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (last admission 2:30 p.m.). Sun: 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (last admission 2:30 p.m.)<\/p>\n

Admission:<\/b> Adults, $20; seniors, $17; Students, $10, Children 4 years and younger, free. Educators with I.D., $10;<\/p>\n

Website:<\/b> www.filoli.org<\/a><\/p>\n

email:<\/b> visitorservices@filoli.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Phone:<\/b> 650.650.364.8300-ext. 507.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of strollers on a woodland path at Filoli Gardens. (Al Auger) \u201cYou have to dream before your dreams come true\u201d \u2013 Sigmund Freud William Bowers Bourn II, is one of the least known millionaire in the gold rush history of San Francisco. He was the owner of one of California\u2019s richest gold mines…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":16204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[804,3099,3098,3097,2885,261,2886,147,37,3096],"class_list":["post-16286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-lifestyle","tag-california","tag-filoli-cafe","tag-filoli-garden","tag-filoli-mansion","tag-leisure","tag-san-francisco-bay-area","tag-sf-bay-area-day-trips","tag-siliconeer","tag-travel","tag-woodside"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}