The Mystical and Magical Filoli Estate
If you haven’t already, make sure to read my posts on the Monterey Bay Aquarium and The Winchester Mystery House 💚
Welcome to the final installment of my NorCal Trip! Today I will be discussing my personal favorite outing that Jenny and I did; a visit to the Filoli estate and gardens!
If there’s one thing you should know about me is that I love and I mean LOVE, botanical gardens. Since 2020, I have visited several in Los Angeles and in the Pacific Northwest.
Last year, while I was browsing the internet in search of botanical gardens in California, I stumbled upon Filoli. I had never heard of it before, but the photos instantly caught my attention. After doing a bit of research, I found out that it was 30 minutes away from San Jose, in a town called Woodside.
Knowing that I had every intention to visit The Winchester Mystery House, I made sure to put Filoli in my itinerary. Over a year later, I was there (manifestation baby)! So let’s talk about this gorgeous Georgian revival estate.
“Filoli” is a word made up by William Bowers Bourn II, a man who made his money in gold mining. It stands for “Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.” Like most of the other botanical gardens I’ve been to, Filoli is the former home of very wealthy people (in this case, Bourn and his family).
Filoli was built in 1917. The Bourns wanted a home in the countryside to get some respite from San Francisco, where the family originally lived. They would live and own the house until their deaths. That’s when the Roths, another wealthy San Francisco family, purchased it in 1937.
To make a long story short, the Roths greatly expanded the gardens and would continue to live on the estate until 1975. It’s then that the home was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It was eventually opened to the public.
So what is there to do at Fioli? Explore! With 16 acres of gardens, there’s plenty to see. Jenny and I arrived early and stayed for 3 or 4 hours. We walked around and pretended like we were in Pride and Prejudice (jk but not really).
When I tell you that this place will make all of your cottagecore dreams come true, I mean it. As it was inspired by the English countryside, you will forget you’re in NorCal and give you a bit of wanderlust.
The house itself is also open for tours and public viewing. When we went, it was crowded AF, and hard to get any good pictures. However, I did manage to get a good photo of the library/reading room (pictured above).
As you can imagine, the house is massive. It always blows my mind that people can live like that like it’s NBD. The upstairs of the home is roped off, but downstairs is not and you get a pretty good idea of how lavish these people’s lives were. Ah, to be old money.
Know before you go:
Filoli is located at 86 Cañada Rd, Woodside, CA 94062
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here
Admission includes entry to both the home and gardens
Parking is free and available on-site
Bring comfy shoes
There is a cafe but the food did not look appetizing (we skipped out on it)
The gift shop, however, was cottagecore and quaint AF
Thank you for reading and see you all in 2022! Make sure to check out the gallery below to see even more photos of Filoli!
