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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Hidden Treasure

When I was in the Bay Area last week, I did something I had been intending to do for maybe ten years. Driving along I-280, I had often noticed a brown "historic marker" sign at the roadside near Redwood City saying "Filoli" and wondered what it was. I discovered it was a historic estate, belonging now to the American National Trust. With Jim leaving for Japan soon, I invited him and his family to visit the place with me.

Filoli is reached from Cañada Road and has a long driveway snaking up through meadows to a new visitor centre. The estate is located on the land near the Crystal Springs reservoir, and was created by the founder of PG & E and owner of a successful gold mine.

The estate has a selection of different gardens - a rather sparse set of lawns surrounding an aquamarine-blue swimming pool, informal woodlands, formally laid gardens with pools and box hedges and an extensive rose garden with some magnificent bush and tree roses.

After resting on the steps and visiting the bonsai garden just outside, we briefly visited the house (the place closes really early so we had to rush). The house looks enormous from outside, but inside is simply rather large. The architecture was reminiscent of a public works style - brick built with plain arches - and the interiors were cool and a little dark, with many Japanese touches. One highlight was the extensive twenties kitchen, complete with a bank vault for the family silver.

The day we were there - a Saturday - the place was absolutely packed with visitors, including two coach parties. While I'd suggest a weekday visit, it's well worth seeing and I have been amazed how few of my colleagues have even heard of it let alone visited.

posted at 6:01 PM (UK) | |