Violet Cards

Garden History The extensive sixteen-acre formal garden was planned and planted as construction of the house neared completion. The lawns and shrubs around the house were planted by the fall of 1917. The woodlands and the undeveloped Crystal Springs Watershed lands surrounding the estate provide a magnificent backdrop for the formal garden. The garden survives today as one of America’s finest historic gardens. The Bourn family asked Bruce Porter, known for his interiors, murals, stained glass windows, and garden designs, for help in making design decisions involving the layout of the site, the garden, and the outdoor structures. Porter shared Mr. Bourn’s appreciation of the natural California landscape and designed the formal garden to enhance the natural beauty of the landscape. Porter and the Bourns envisioned the house and garden as complementary units, with the north-south axis of the garden echoing the line of the Transverse Hall. Inspired by European influences, the garden is a succession of garden rooms, containing parterres, terraces, lawns, and pools, arranged between the two parallel north-south walks. The southern most point, the High Place, affords views of the garden, house, and fields. As you walk through the garden, notice the fantastic detail work with art imitating nature and nature imitating art, which epitomizes the essence of a pleasure garden. Isabella Worn supervised the planting of the Filoli garden. When Filoli was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. William P. Roth in 1937, they retained Worn to continue her work. Under Mrs. Roth’s patronage, Worn enriched the garden with a variety of plants, including hundreds of Camellias, Rhododendrons, Roses, and many Magnolias. Her ingenious designs and great sense of color were hallmarks of the garden that Mrs. Roth continued to follow even after Worn’s death. As the garden gained worldwide renown, Mrs. Roth was awarded several honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal of the Garden Club of America for her achievements as a collector and propagator of plants. The formal garden at Filoli is named the Lurline B. Roth Garden in her honor. Today the garden is maintained by fourteen full-time horticulturists, student interns, and over one hundred garden volunteers.