Filoli

The name, Filoli, is an acronym from Mr. Bourn's (the owner who build Filoli) motto: “FIght for a just cause, LOve your fellow man, and LIve a good life.” You’ll know Bourn did the latter when you tour the ground floor rooms of this splendid home with its 17-foot-high ceilings, grand ballroom, and elegant 17^th and 18th-century furnishings. The library is an exacting copy of Denham Place, London (1690) complete with a carpet that once graced Queen Victoria’s home on the Isle of White.

Surrounded by woodlands, farmland and orchards the 16 acres of garden are laid out as rooms each with a distinctive design feature: the formality of the sunken garden, the scent of roses in the rose garden and the Irish yews on the west terrace.  Every spring thousands of tulips and daffodils put on a show closely followed by the pink and white wonderland of cherry, pear, and apple tree blossom.

Completing the picture there’s a gift shop and garden café. It's no wonder that Filoli has been used as a movie and television set, with appearances in Heaven Can Wait, The Joy Luck Club, Dynasty, Heaven Can Wait and George of the Jungle.

It is also interesting to note that part of the reason Mr. Bourn selected the location for Filoli is that the setting and landscape reminded him of Muckross House, an estate in Ireland that he purchased for his daughter as a wedding gift in 1910.  Muckross House is featured in our guide to Ireland and on our website.