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Garden History

Garden Style

Georgian Style to the North

The terraces surrounding the house and the entry courtyard follow the Georgian style and are different from the English Renaissance style of the enclosed gardens to the south. It was on the north and the west sides of the house that the Bourns wanted to capitalize on existing landscape features. The view was so important that Bourn noted in correspondence to Willis Polk before the house was even built that a good view of the lake could be captured if a porch were constructed outside the master sitting room on the second story. Indeed, in 1929, a wrought iron porch was added so Bourn could still view the lake from his sitting room after he suffered a series of strokes. It was removed in 2004 but its outline can still be seen where bricks were damaged in its demolition.

View through Filoli Garden to Sundial in Walled GardenView through Filoli Garden to Sundial in Walled Garden.
Photo by Saxon Holt ©

The importance of capturing views can also be seen in the paintings of Muckross and the Lakes of the Killarney on the walls of the Ballroom. According to Mr. Bourn's grandson, William Bourn Vincent, they were painted only after Mr. Bourn's stroke when it became apparent to the family that he would never be able to travel to his beloved Muckross again and that the paintings would be a comfort to him.

At the start of the project a wooden tower on wheels was constructed for use in locating the best vantage points from the garden for capturing views. The house and gardens were then oriented to take full advantage of the views of the lake where it could be seen from the hall on the first floor, from the terraces, and from the High Place at the south terminus of the yew allée in the gardens.

The design of the terraces and the balustrade was kept simple, devoid of distracting and frivolous garden plantings and ornamentation. The goal there was to direct the views up to the backdrop of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and to the lake and rift valley to the north. The simple low brick retaining wall surrounding the lower terraces did a good job of defining the boundaries between the designed landscape and nature and preserving the expansive view. It definitely added an elegant Georgian touch but although it resembles a ha-ha (a barrier with a trench to keep out foraging animals), the wall was purely ornamental and not designed to keep out the deer and wandering sheep.

Originally only the walled garden was protected with wooden gates to keep out rabbits. These were later replaced with five elegant wrought iron gates which are effective today in keeping out deer. This original plan to protect only the walled garden may explain why so many of the plants outside of the walled garden, like yew, boxwood, holly, acanthus, wisteria, leptospermum and plane tree, are all deer resistant. Eventually low deer fencing was added to the perimeter of the garden and the orchard but it was never completely effective and new deer fencing was constructed in 1994. The choice of the Blue Atlas cedar, Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca' for the north side was interesting in that the foliage contrasts sharply with the native vegetation to the west on the hills, and its sparse branches frame rather than block the views.

The Bourns also cherished the native live oaks which flourished at Filoli. They chose an ancient grove on a low knoll to build their 36,000 square foot Georgian style home. An early site analysis by the Bourns shows how much thought they put into incorporating the footprint of the house into this existing grove to avoid harming the trees. Even much smaller oaks were identified on the site plan and saved. The terraces and formal gardens were designed around these wild trees which eventually grew up to become the dominant canopy over the garden.

The entry courtyard located on the east side of the house was planned to relate to the entry drive and the approaches. The view to the East was the least interesting and Mr. Bourn planted the olive orchard to help screen the view of the water tower on the east hills. The entry courtyard was designed for receiving guests and for accommodating the large groups that would be invited to attend their social affairs but not for lingering. Mr. Bourn wanted automobiles to access the house as close as possible to the front door with plenty of space for a convenient turning radius and room for guest parking. The courtyard is the best place to view the house close-up to see the Georgian architectural features like the Flemish bond brick pattern with its belt courses and decorative corner quoins. The selection of the simple Tuscan column order was the appropriate choice to symbolize a place that the owners wanted to convey as a farm or agricultural establishment.