Just northeast of Los Angeles, in San Marino, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens offers one of the most beautiful days out in Southern California. Founded in 1919 by railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington, this nonprofit research and education institution pairs a world-class library and art museum with some 130 acres of themed gardens that bloom in every season.
The gardens unfold like a journey around the world. The Desert Garden, one of the largest outdoor collections of cacti and succulents anywhere, turns towering golden barrels and sculptural agaves into living art. The beloved Japanese Garden, created more than a century ago, gathers a drum bridge, a ceremonial teahouse and koi-filled ponds under wisteria and pines. The Chinese Garden, Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, wraps pavilions and a lake in scholar’s rocks and seasonal blossoms, while the Rose Garden pours on color and perfume near the tearoom.
Indoors, the Library displays treasures such as a Gutenberg Bible and the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the art museum is home to Gainsborough’s famous Blue Boy. Advance tickets are recommended through huntington.org, especially on weekends. Whether you come for the gardens, the galleries or simply a quiet bench in the shade, The Huntington is Los Angeles happiness at walking pace.
Photo: inkknife_2000 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
