Filoli House and Gardens

A Patch of English Heritage in the Heart of California's Bay Area

Oct 6, 2009 Linda Gentile

Filoli House and Gardens sit on over 600 acres of land, with formal gardens, trails and regular events. A National Trust property, this estate is reminiscent of England.

Filoli House and some of its gardens are under the care of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and members can enter for free. The estate is managed by another non-profit, the Filoli Center. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a California registered historic landmark.

The visitor to Filoli House and Gardens might be forgiven for thinking he'd been transported to rural England. Hidden behind an ornate gateway off Cañada Road in Woodside lies a 16,000 square foot “Californian eclectic” mansion, complete with 654 acres of grounds. It looks like an English stately home.

A single lane road funnels the traveler through a landscape reminiscent of a royal country estate; at its end is a vast parking lot, under the shadow of mature trees.

A Brief History of Filoli House and Gardens

In 1915, William Bowers Bourn II and Agnes Moody Bourn contracted Willie Polk, famed San Francisco architect, to build them a house. Mr. Bourn had made a fortune in the Empire gold mine near Grass Valley, and was also president of the Spring Valley Water Company. Nearby Crystal Springs Reservoir, held by the Company, was one of the reasons Filoli was built here.

The Bourns used Filoli from 1917 until their deaths in 1936. A year later, Mr. and Mrs. William P. Roth, president of the Matson Navigation Company, bought the house. With a nod to the source of their money, the Roths decorated the house with nautical pictures, models and other artifacts. They held Filoli until 1975 when Mrs. Roth donated the entire estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Roths and Bourns were not Filoli's only famous “residents.” In the 1980s, the Carringtons of Dynasty lived in the house too – at least, on film!

Visiting Filoli House and Gardens

Filoli is located at 86 Cañada Road, Woodside, California; drivers should take the Edgewood/Cañada exit and follow signs to Filoli. 2009 admission was $12 for adults. Visitors who don't want to pay can ask for a pass to the garden shop at the visitor center. They are handed a bright sticker and warned that, if caught without it, the fee will be extracted. The garden shop sells seeds, souvenirs and plants.

Filoli is a working estate, with sixteen acres of formal gardens, for the most part maintained by volunteers. The Filoli Center holds classes, has opportunities for agriculture interns, and offers guided and self-guided tours of both house and gardens. Beyond the formal gardens are woodlands with trails; Filoli Center holds nature hikes, too, and recommends reservations for all guided tours.

A genteel on-site cafeteria serves droves of visitors with fine cakes and light meals. Filoli runs various exhibits and special events, including a pricey ($35) but fancy afternoon tea once a month.

The whole aura of Filoli is so reminiscent of England that the visitor might imagine she'd been transported to a National Trust house in the Cotswolds or Cornwall. Only the accents, and the year-round blooms, give the game away.

As for the name Filoli, it is a contraction of William Bourn's personal credo: “Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.”

The copyright of the article Filoli House and Gardens in Historical Travel is owned by Linda Gentile. Permission to republish Filoli House and Gardens in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Filoli's California Historical Marker