Additional Structures

More Information

Filoli Visitor Map

A detailed layout of the house, gardens and pathways.

Web Version
Print Version (PDF 1.4 Meg)

For best results, print on 8.5x14 paper. Requires Acrobat Reader. Full Color Versions available at the Visitor and Education Center upon arrival.

Garden Pavilion (Tea House, Garden House)

Constructed: 1920
Architect: Arthur Brown Jr. (best know as the architect who designed San Francisco’s City Hall.)

A garden pavilion was a building frequently found on the grounds of fashionable residences on the east coast of America during the 18th and 19th centuries. Similar to a summerhouse or a conservatory, the garden pavilion was a symbol of prestige and wealth.

Filoli’s garden pavilion was designed to make a break in the long brick wall enclosing the walled garden and to match the architecture of the main House. It has eight stone figureheads at the top of the French-style windows, molded and cast by Gaston Rognier of San Mateo. Rognier was known for his decorative statuary on buildings at the Panama Pacific Exposition. His mantlepieces and ornaments were shipped across the U.S. to many other country places.

The interior floor of the garden pavilion is composed of large Tavernelle marble, separating bands of black and gold marble and small squares of Belgian black marble. The wainscoting (or splash panel) around the walls is beige Tavernelle marble. The tabletop is brecciate violet Brocatelle marble. The Satyr Pompeii plant stand is a copy from Pompeii. The Bourns used both the table and plant stand in their San Francisco home. The elaborate wall sconces were originally intended for the staircase area in the House.

Blueprints refer to it as the garden pavilion, Mrs. Roth called it the tea house, and it is known today as the garden house.

Tennis Court

Pool and Pavilion

Constructed: 1946-1947
Architect: Alec Yuill-Thornton (from Gardner Dailey’s office), Modified in 1957 by Charles Porter and Robert Steinwedell.

Garage Court

The walls of the House, the chauffeur’s quarters, and the garage form the garage court. Arthur Brown, Jr. designed the garage and the chauffeur’s quarters. The cupola atop the garage is in the style of an 18th century design by Christopher Wren.

Head Gardener’s Cottage

Greenhouse Courtyard

Estate greenhouses were both a luxury and a necessity. The Filoli greenhouses were designed by Arthur Brown, Jr. (Bakewell and Brown) in 1921. Brown’s original plans from Filoli’s archives provided the information for the restoration of the greenhouses.

The main greenhouse is divided into three parts: orchid collection, tropicals and plants like begonias and maidenhair ferns with lower light requirements. The north greenhouse is used as a shade house for growing ferns and over-wintering cymbidium orchids. Attached to the north greenhouse is the "Head House" which today functions as lunchroom and locker room for the staff as well as the meeting place for the garden volunteers. The smaller brick building on the south side contains the greenhouse boiler in its basement with restrooms and storage upstairs. The greenhouse on the south side is used for growing herbaceous plants. The propagation house was built in the 1980s.

It is important to note that the greenhouses are still being used for the original purpose. This is not true at many other historic properties where greenhouses have been converted and used for other purposes.

Fruit Store or Cellar

Located by the orchard, this structure historically never functioned well for cold storage, so it was refrigerated in 1999.

The Sally MacBride Nature Center

The Sally MacBride Nature Center at Filoli is a nature education museum housed in a former barn and is accessible only on docent-led walks. Several existing buildings, including the old barn, were considered for the nature center. At that time the old barn was occupied so a foaling barn was selected in 1987 and converted into a display building for the nature center and the nearby tack room became the trail committee shop.

Red’s Barn

Red’s Barn is a training facility located in the Filoli Nature Preserve near the nature center. Red was one of Mrs. Roth’s favorite horses and this building was his home.

In 1991 the volunteer Filoli trails committee cleaned the interior of the building in preparation for its conversion to a training facility. Today the facility has classroom space and storage areas for training material. Filoli uses Red’s Barn for the Native Plants/Native Ways education program for 4th grade students, the Saturday Explorer program as well as training programs for Filoli volunteers.

Visitor and Education Center (VEC)

The Visitor and Education Center was completed in 1996 as a space for various visitor and programming needs. The Lane Courtyard was dedicated in honor of Bill and Jean Lane for their many contributions to Filoli. The courtyard around the VEC was designed to reflect the style of a classical formal garden room and contains English ivy from the original ivies on the bowling green walls.

Gatehouse

The gatehouse was built to greet visitors to Filoli Center and monitor access to the property. It was built by Tre-Lee Construction of Mariposa and is a copy of the gatehouses in Yosemite. It is not on a permanent foundation as it is not on Filoli property and can be moved if necessary. It sits on redwood skids covered with metal flashing.