Filoli

One of my good friends here in SF is Dyan- we like to do cultural activities together during the week or weekends. She's my true idol because she still goes and does these things with her little girl, Nora. She is a member of these beautiful gardens called "Filoli" which I have never heard of, but am now a huge fan of them.

"Filoli" is the name of this beautiful estate in the mountains of San Francisco with stunning gardens. It was build for William Bourn, a man wealthy from the SF gold rush, and loved the estates of Europe. He named his location "Filoli" as a word made from the first 2 letters of FIght, LOve, and LIve. These words came from his favorite saying "Fight for a just course, love your fellow man, live a good life". What a great motto to live by! The main manor house was designed after one he saw in Ireland called "Muckross". He actually bought this estate in Ireland and gave it to his daughter for a wedding present.

Here is a small painting of what Muckross looked like. This painting is one of the "wallpapers" for their ballroom.

And I thought that it was so cute that they had this man playing the piano to add a bit of atmosphere to the place

They also had several safes in the house- this one for silver and another for their wine/champagne collection. Its literally the size of a BANK safe with the heavy steel doors.

The inside of the house is pretty nice, but it isn't very impressive compared to the gardens. But, the exterior of the house is very beautiful- especially the entry way

The rest of the photos are of the beautiful gardens. The second owner of the home, the Roth's, spend most of their time and effort on the gardens. It is amazing because most of the gardeners who take care of the property today are mainly volunteers.

The clock tower complete with weather vane

The arched entry way to the one of the gardens- it reminds me of one of the gardens in "The Secret Garden".

We came at a great time- most of the flowers and tulips were in bloom, although I just missed the cherry blossoms. Dyan went two weeks before and said that they were stunning.

Another gate and manicured path- it is amazing how immaculate the gardens are.

The tulips were so vivid and I just love the purple wisteria

A sea of wisteria

And they even have adorable outdoor furniture to sit on

I loved this tree- it was so magestic

Doesn't it feel so romantic- especially with the ivy climbing up the walls

And the reds were so vivid and vibrant

The sun dial-

They called this area containing a semi-circle of pillars the "High Place" because it was at the far end of the garden and you had to ascend a few stairs to get there

The view looking down from the high place

The manor house supposedly had something like 17 chimneys.

And this was so picturesque- I took the photos of 2 sets of mother and daughters

Dyan and her adorable little girl Nora who was too fascinated by all the flowers to look at me. And then a random mother and her daughter who had just had knee surgery the week before and was walking around amazingly well!

We also had lunch at the little cafe where we had this AMAZING artichoke bisque soup. It was so delicious- it was a good thing we got there when we did because a few minutes later, they were all out of that soup.

I have included a few more photos of just flowers in a slide show because they were so stunning. It really just made me so happy to be enjoying a beautiful day in a beautiful environment. I want to go back again when the roses are in bloom