Filoli

Today, Julie and I toured the Filoli House and Gardens. Filoli was a 654 acre estate featuring a 36,000 square foot home and sixteen acres of formal gardens. It is located about 30 miles south of San Franciso.

Filoli was completed (for a whopping $500,000) in 1917 as the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourne II. William made his millions as owner of the Empire Mine, a gold mine that was productive for over 100 years. After the earthquake and fire of 1906 – many of the rich in San Francisco decided to rebuild outside the city.

William and his wife were inspired by the country estates/castles they encountered in Ireland – and set about to build a grand estate and gardens. Their specific inspiration was an 11,000 acre estate they purchased for their daughter (as a wedding present) – who married and lived in Ireland. (Don’t get any ideas Joel or Hannah).

Filoli is a cool name that was a mystery to many until one of William’s business associates figure it out. It is actually a combination of the first two letters of William’s credo; FIght for a just cause; LOve your fellow man; LIve a good life.

It was fun to visit, tour the house and gardens. It also gave me a chance to try out my new camera! It was exciting having Julie there as my assistant (she carried the tripod for me and made lots of suggestions for good shots!). I'm still not that great.. but really enjoying learning and just having fun.

I hope you enjoy some of the many pictures we took. I can’t wait to share these gardens with Elsie the next time she comes to California. I know she’ll love them.