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| THE DESERT GARDENS |
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HUNTINGTON'S MANSION
VERANDA |
The
Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens are located in a
residential neighborhood of palatial homes in San Marino, CA, about
twelve miles from downtown Los Angeles. The property was originally
called the San Marino Ranch when it was purchased by Henry E.
Huntington in 1903. He was a successful investor in the railroad
industry and real estate. His special love and knowledge of books,
art, plants, and trees resulted in his amassing one of the finest
research libraries in the world, significant art collections, and
gardens.
When Henry
first purchased the working ranch in 1903, it was covered with citrus
groves, alfalfa crops, poultry, and small herds of cows. Working with
his superintendent, William Hertrich, Henry developed over 120 acres
into gardens of rare and exotic plants from all over the world. Among
the most popular is the Japanese Garden, which includes a drum
bridge, Japanese house, and walled Zen garden. The desert garden is
one of the largest cacti and succulent gardens in the world with over
five thousand species of plants. You couldn't miss the sweet scents
when walking through the rose gardens.
We arrived
when it opened at 10:30 am on October 4, and with a weather forecast
of over 100 degree F, it was not crowded. Due to the heat, we were
the only ones to join the one and one-half hour garden tour.
Fortunately, our informative guide made sure stops were in the shade.
There are
currently more than three thousand trees on the property, including
hundreds of Huntington's favorite oak and palm trees. Our guide
pointed out the Pinus coulter, which produces the largest cone
of any pine tree species. Its nickname is the widow maker because the
cones can weigh up to ten pounds (people are actually advised to wear
hardhats when working in Coulter pine groves). I could easily spend
many more hours perusing these twelve lovely gardens, especially in
the spring when the roses and camellias are at their peak. There was
a large shaded veranda at the front of Huntington's mansion with
comfortable chairs—not a bad place to take it all in on such a warm
October day.
After our tour
through the gardens, it was time to move into the three
air-conditioned buildings that house the art collections and library.
Our first stop, the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art,
includes 18 rooms full of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts
from the colonial period through the middle of the 20
th
century. My favorite piece of work is by an American artist, Mary
Cassatt (1844-1926), entitled
Breakfast in Bed. I think I was
partial to the painting because it reminded me of my daughter, Anna,
and her baby, Mila.
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Breakfast in Bed by Mary Cassatt
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Next, we
visited the Huntington Art Gallery which offers magnificent works of
art, and an opportunity to see the original early Huntington
residence. Although many of the rooms have been converted into art
galleries, one still gets a glimpse of the opulent lifestyle of one
of the richest families in America in the early 1900s. The focus in
this gallery is European art from the 15
th to the early
20
th century. Among the famous paintings is the
Blue
Boy by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). This was purchased by
Henry Huntington in 1921 at a price of $640,000 ($8.5 million in
2014), making it a record price for art at the time.
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| Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough |
At the
entrance to the mansion is a life sized painting of a stern looking
woman with thick black- rimmed glasses, dressed in widow's weeks. It is
Arabella Huntington, the second wife of Henry, and before that, the
second wife of Henry's uncle Collis Huntington. After the death of
Collis in 1900, she always wore black when in public even after
marrying Henry in 1913. They married in their
60s, and shared interests and expertise in collecting. The story of her life
from modest beginnings to becoming one of the richest women in the
world is fascinating. I am looking forward to reading the well
researched 2013 book:
The Art of Wealth:The Huntingtons in the
Gilded Age by Shelly M.
Bennett.
Our visit would not have been complete without a stop at the
Library where Henry E. Huntington collected millions of rare books
and manuscripts. It's considered the largest library ever assembled
by one person and currently holds about nine million items. Among
them is a Gutenberg Bible on vellum and a world-class collection of
the early editions of Shakespeare's work. For qualified scholars, it
is one of the largest and most complete humanities research libraries
in the US.
We left about 4:30 when they closed—glad to have had a full
day visit without rushing—the vintage way. By then we were hungry
and thirsty so we stopped at
Maria's Italian Kitchen, 3537 E.
Foothill Blvd, Pasadena. It was a good choice. Ron had three rather
large meat balls with melted cheese over them and I enjoyed a caprese
salad and french fries. Later we walked around old Pasadena,
enjoying all the activity and peering into the interesting
restaurants and shops.
