My aunt and I made a mid-summer excursion to the historic
Filoli house and garden, located in Woodside, CA about 30 miles south of San
Francisco. The country estate of the Bourn and then Roth families is now a
property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and operated by the not-for-
profit organization, Filoli, with the help of about 1200 volunteers. The estate
is beautifully situated, surrounded by hills near Crystal Lake. We
visited a few years ago in the winter (see Filoli Gardens, and Filoli in Winter), so looked forward
to comparing and contrasting the feel of the garden between seasons.
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| Courtyard and entrance to the Filoli mansion, now all leafed out |
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| A great photo op in the courtyard |
This time we took the self-guided tour of the house and
gardens, and grilled the knowledgeable docents for information. It was a
perfect, warm summer day after several weeks of cool temperatures
in the San Francisco Bay Area. We explored the (air conditioned) house at a
leisurely pace, so were able to make new discoveries.
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| The main kitchen, with early 20th century uniforms |
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| The ballroom where our docent played show tunes on the grand piano |
The kitchen, library, and ballroom are always favorites. I
was pleased to see Edith Wharton’s Italian Villas and Their Gardens included in the library collection, and my aunt
and I both enjoyed the brief piano concert of favorite show tunes given by one
of the docents in the ballroom. A special exhibit of antique clothing was also
interesting.
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| Filoli - "Fight for a just cause, Love your fellow man, Live a good life." |
Then out into the garden! Several art installments have been
added for the summer, so we enjoyed encountering them as we strolled about. The
garden was an explosion of color with orange and purple plantings
around the sunken garden.
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The Sunken Garden with its brilliant orange and purple border and glass sculpture
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| The swimming pool looked appealing in the heat of the afternoon sun |
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| Shady allee |
The hydrangeas and roses were in full bloom, and the
fruit trees bore crops of apples and pears (they are used for the jams and
jellies sold in the gift store). I was fascinated by their deer proofing on a
grand scale, and think that the Garden Room is still my favorite part of the
garden, with its beautiful light and views of the garden!
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| Serious deer proofing |
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| Light and airy Garden House with subtropical plants |
On the way out at closing we dashed through the Garden Shop,
but with no time to shop. Looks like a great collection of succulent starters
at really good prices (grown on premise). I saw an interesting bird bath bowl that
is the perfect scale for the little brown birds that frequent our garden. Next
time!
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| Apples ready to harvest |
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| Strawberry signage |
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| Succulents for sale |
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| An appealing bird bath bowl |
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My aunt and I had a great time exploring, soaking up the
beauty, and spending time together. We ended the day with dinner at
Fentons Creamery and Restaurant in the East Bay, with BLTs and Black & Tan
sundaes, and lots of great conversation!
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