East of Eden and West of Winchester: The Huntington

Where do I begin with The Huntington? Part garden (ok a lot of gardens), part art museum, part lavish home, part aviary, the gals and I visited The Huntington yesterday for a trip to the city. Located in San Marino (almost Pasadena) The Huntington is a beautiful oasis in the chaos of metropolitan LA. Our neighbors told Kenneth and I about The Huntington a few months ago. Because I am the worlds best wife, I dragged my girl friends instead of my husband to see the gardens (thanks for coming ladies.)

The Huntington is the former home of Henry E. Huntington. Built in 1919 to impress his wife, the home features french rococo architecture, furnishings, and paintings. The residence currently hosts the art gallery. A separate building houses the library which contains a Gutenberg Bible, early editions of Shakespeare's work, and the Ellesmere manuscript of the Canterbury Tales. I enjoyed walking the 120 acres of themed and manicured gardens. The Huntington boasts an herb garden, a Shakespeare garden (features plants from his sonnets and plays,) rose garden, jungle garden, desert garden, palm garden, Australian garden, Chinese garden, and Japanese garden. In sum, it is the place to go if you want to feel like a cultured, wealthy, academic (and who doesn't?) Not to mention, the gift shop was top notch! The Huntington reminded me of Versailles in France. Although it was a little expensive, the trip was completely worth it!