Filoli Historic House & Gardens in California is a great place for everyone who loves flower gardens, visiting mansions or different filming locations. It is a truly beautiful estate!
Since we live in the San Francisco Bay Area and relatively close by, we have visited the magnificent Filoli Historic House & Gardens multiple times. It has been a great place to take our guests to, or just to go enjoy different seasons and flower blooms. Filoli is such a tranquil place and we find something new on each visit there.
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Filoli Gardens is located in Woodside, California. This gorgeous mansion and its beautiful gardens are only about a 30 minutes drive from San Francisco. The road zigzags in the Santa Cruz Mountains until you suddenly see the Filoli sign on the side of the road. The mansion is not visible from the main road, but a small road surrounded by some fields will take you to the parking lot.
The area is very popular among bicyclists, so be prepared to share the road and to drive a little bit slower. We have also seen some wild turkeys and deer by the road here, so you never know what might be in front of you after the next turn.
What is Filoli?
Filoli is a historical estate with 16 acres of amazingly beautiful gardens open to the public. It is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and ran and maintained by its staff with some 1,200 volunteers.
Filoli is a popular place for day visits and outdoor walks, and even some artists working. They also have a handful of nice events and it is used as a wedding venue.
The mansion at Filoli has been used as a filming location for various different movies and shows. The most known of them is probably the hit 80s TV-series: Dynasty. Filoli was featured in the opening scene as the home of the Carrington family. The show was mainly filmed in other locations, but some of the scenes were filmed inside of the Filoli mansion.
Other movies filmed at Filoli are for example Heaven Can Wait with Warren Beatty, Dying Young with Julia Roberts, The Game with Michael Douglas, The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez, George of the Jungle and Rent.
For those, who are interested in the movie locations, or what the inside of the mansion looks like, I recommend this Bobbing Along video.
The history of Filoli
The mansion was built between 1915 and 1917 to be a home for the Bourn family. William Bowers Bourn II spent a lot of time in Europe and was fascinated by the architecture over there. He brought his ideas with him and used them on this mansion.
The name Filoli comes from the motto of Mr Bourn, and from the first letters of “Fight for a cause, Love your fellow man, Live a good life”.
After the passing of William and his wife, the mansion was sold to the Roth family, who kept growing the gardens and added a pool to it. In 1975 Mrs. Roth donated the place to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
touring the Filoli Historic House & Gardens
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On out last visit to Filoli I wrote down some tips about what not to miss while touring the mansion and the gardens.
We started our tour from the visitor center where we got out tickets and a brochure of the place. The self-guided tour starts with a 15 minute video which talks about the history of Filoli and the two families who lived there.
The visitor center building also has a little gift shop and a cafeteria. We had our lunch there and we sat outside on the patio. It was quite lovely! The cafe offers light fare like salads, soups and sandwiches, and variety of coffees. They also have a separate kids menu. It is a great place either to start or end the garden tour.
Filoli also allows picnicing, but only on a designated picnic area by the parking lot.
The mansion
The Filoli mansion was designed by architect Willis Polk and it has a total of 56 rooms. There is actually quite a lot to see in the house, so I recommend taking your time when you go in.
At the mansion door we met a very friendly volunteer. She told us what we would see inside, and what to look for. On this day they had an exhibition of 1920’s clothes which could be found in almost every room. The first room to see after entering the house is the Reception Hall.
Beautiful flower arrangements are situated all over the house and of course, the flowers are all from the Filoli Gardens. We also got a tip to look down while walking, since each room has a different floor pattern.
One of the most interesting parts of the house is the staff wing. It has for example a large Kitchen where the staff would prepare all the meals for the residents and their guests. The Butler’s Pantry has a huge safe to store all the silver tableware that used to be in use. You can even walk in to the safe and see what it’s like.
The dining room is usually set up to show what the dinner parties would have looked like back in the day. Among the dining room there is also a Drawing Room, Breakfast Room, Study and a Library. One of the prettiest rooms in the house is the Ballroom in which someone was playing a grand piano.
Only the first floor of the house is open to the public. The second floor has a research library and can be used by the members of Filoli.
If you used to follow the TV series Dynasty, you might recognise this staircase going to the second floor. It is said to be the one where one of the main characters, Krystle (Linda Evans) fell down in one of her scenes.
Filoli Gardens
We started our garden tour from the Sunken Garden, which in my opinion, was one of the most beautiful parts of the whole place. Flowers were blooming everywhere, even in the pond, and little dragon flies were flying around it.
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We walked thru the Rose Garden all the way to the Garden Orchard. In the Rose Garden we saw several artists concentrating on their colourful paintings. The Garden Orchard has about 250 fruit trees and many of them had fruits. From the working garden they also harvest some vegetables and flowers for flower arrangements.
Then we stopped at the Daffodil Meadow which was absolutely beautiful, and sat on a bench by the blooming hydrangeas. This place was tranquil, it would have been a perfect spot for reading a book or taking a little nap. In between the gardens there was a gorgeous Yew Allee.
The magnificent garden ended at the Wedding Place and the Tennis Court, from where we headed back to the visitor center. We absolutely loved this tour, so if you like flowers you should visit this place for sure.
The garden is definitely the main attraction, and as a plus you will get to visit the mansion too.
Best time to visit Filoli Gardens
There is really no bad time to visit Filoli Gardens! Filoli blooms all year round. In different seasons you can enjoy different settings and events, and they are all very different.
My favorite time to visit Filoli is spring. That is simply the best time to see the most flowers in bloom. Not only are the cherry trees blooming, but also the colourful daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and blue violas are at their best.
Summers are sunny and hot, so don’t forget to bring your sunscreen! Summer is the best time to see many different roses and zinnias in bloom.
Fall is also a great time at any gardens in California, as it is the time of the harvest festivals and many other events. Everything is decorated with fall colours and pumpkins, and you might be even able to catch some foliage.
During the winter the best time to visit is in December. You will be able to see both the mansion and the garden in the holiday setting. It is truly amazing with all the holiday lights and decorations. They also have many events such as Santa Days and Holiday wreath making parties.
Another quite interesting house to visit in San Francisco Bay Area is the Eugene O’Neill’s Tao House in Danville. It is actually a national historic site. And for those who love flowers I would recommend the Municipal Rose Garden in San Jose. It is magnificent especially at spring time!
If you are into different filming locations, Top Gun sites in San Diego are the best ones we have been to.
Do you like visiting historical mansions or gardens?
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