Filoli

Filoli is a is a listed historic villa of the early 20th century with an extraordinary garden and park with an area of ​​approximately 2.6 square kilometers. It is located in Woodside, California in the mountains between San Jose and San Francisco.

The house was designed by Californian architect Willis Polk for William Bowers Bourn II and his wife Agnes and served the family from 1917 to 1936 as a private residence. Bourn was president of the Spring Valley Water Company and the owner of a gold mine. The property has 48 rooms and 17 fireplaces. Its name comes through the combination of 2 -letter abbreviations ( acronym), the William Bourns motto " Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life "(Eng.: fighting for a just cause, love your neighbor, Live a good life ) to play.

In 1937, the house was sold to William P. Roth. Since 1975 it belongs to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is since 1976 a museum open to the public. The garden is one of the finest in the world and has been awarded several times. He is now a public park and can also be visited. The entire estate is administered by a separate organization, the Filoli Center with approximately 30 employees. About half of them is responsible for the maintenance of the grounds and planting. In addition, about 1,200 volunteers working on the system, including in the public café, a library, a gardener or head of the guided tours.

The park is at its facility strongly influenced by European gardens. The park architecture comes from Bruce Porter. The park is an arrangement of different " garden rooms " with terraces, ponds and lawns. Among the many trees including Italian pines and oak trees over 250 years old. In the spring, blooming tulips 35,000.

The architectural style of the villa of brick is expected to historicism, in which case European elements were also taken up. In the U.S. it is called Georgian style. The floor plan of the house is U-shaped with a wing for the staff on one side and a ballroom on the other. The furniture dates mostly from the 18th century.

The house and the land already served as the backdrop for many Hollywood films, including George - He came out of the jungle and The Game. It was also the location for the pilot episode of the series Dynasty and was later shown in the opening credits to the series as the home of the fictional family Carrington.