The Huntington is one of the greatest cultural institutions in California — a 120-acre estate in San Marino that combines a world-class research library (housing a Gutenberg Bible, a Shakespeare First Folio, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales manuscript), an art collection (Gainsborough's 'Blue Boy' and Lawrence's 'Pinkie'), and 16 themed botanical gardens that together create a day-long experience unlike anything else in Southern California.
The gardens are the Huntington's greatest asset. The Japanese Garden (one of the oldest and largest in the US, established 1911), the Chinese Garden (the largest classical Chinese garden outside China, opened 2008), the Desert Garden (the world's largest outdoor collection of mature cacti and succulents, with 5,000 species), and the Rose Garden (1,400 cultivars in a formal English layout) each justify a separate visit. The scale is extraordinary — walking through all 16 gardens takes a full day, and the botanical diversity, from tropical rainforest to arid desert within the same estate, demonstrates what unlimited water and money could produce in the Southern California climate.
The library is a research institution (you can view but not touch the rare books), and the art galleries — housed in the original Beaux-Arts mansion built by railroad magnate Henry Huntington in 1910 — display European and American art in the domestic setting for which much of it was collected. The Huntington is technically in San Marino (20 minutes east of downtown LA), and the contrast between the estate's curated perfection and the city's chaotic sprawl is part of the experience.
Verified Facts
The Huntington estate covers 120 acres
The library houses a Gutenberg Bible and a Shakespeare First Folio
The Desert Garden contains approximately 5,000 species of cacti and succulents
The Chinese Garden is the largest classical Chinese garden outside China
Get walking directions
1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, 91108, United States
