30th anniversary of Filoli Center should be another banner year for garden lovers
By Jane KnoerleIt’s been 30 years since Lurline Matson Roth bequeathed her Woodside mansion and gardens to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In the years since 1975, Filoli has become a national treasure, visited by thousands each year, and staffed by hundreds of volunteers.
It has been the setting for movies, a television series, soirees, flower shows, Easter egg hunts, and nature hikes. It’s a place to be educated and entertained. It’s impossible to drive down the lane to the “big house,” surrounded by massive oaks, without feeling awe at the land’s beauty and serenity.
Roth gave her house and garden to the National Trust after it had been the Roth family home, from 1937 to 1975. She and her husband, William P. Roth, purchased the 654-acre estate, complete with furnishings, from William Bowers Bourn. Mr. Bourn had completed the mansion, designed by Willis Polk, in 1917 and named it Filoli, short for “fight, love, live.”
Ms. Roth was an avid horticulturist who made Filoli’s gardens known worldwide. After living at Filoli almost 40 years, she wanted the house and gardens preserved for future generations to enjoy.
In the spring of 1976 the Filoli Center was founded, along with the first Friends of Filoli volunteer board. When the movie “Heaven Can Wait,” starring Warren Beattie and Julie Christie, was filmed at Filoli in 1977, the studio “cleaned out” and refurbished the house, making it possible to begin offering public tours. That first year, 10,000 visitors toured the house and garden.
Filoli was also the setting for other movies, and the pilot for the popular television series “Dynasty.”
During the past 30 years, the biggest project was building the Visitor and Education Center, which opened in 1996. The center provides up-to-date facilities for lunches, dinners, teas, classes, exhibits and events that now draw about 100,000 visitors a year — not to mention the thousands of visitors to the estate’s elaborate gardens on 16 acres.
Friends of Filoli, too, has grown to 10,000 members with 1,200 active volunteers. Its ranks include Charles “Chuck” Huggins of Woodside, who recently retired as president and CEO of See’s Candies and has helped to raise funds for Filoli.
INFORMATION:
Guests will step back in time to the 1930s when Filoli’s ballroom is transformed into a supper club on Saturday, March 25. The evening will be in the tradition of a 1933 post-prohibition dinner held by the Bourn family, and guests are encouraged to come in 1930s attire. Tickets are $250, $500 and $1,000 each. Call (650) 364-8300, ext. 508.
For more information on the mansion and gardens, including tour information and ticket prices, visit www.filoli.org.
