Filoli

Filoli is a country house set in 16 acres (6.5 ha; 0.025 sq mi) of formal gardens surrounded by a 654-acre (265 ha; 1.022 sq mi) estate, located in Woodside, California, about 25 miles (40 km) south of San Francisco, at the southern end of Crystal Springs Lake, on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Filoli is open to the public. The site is both a California Historical Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

The Bourn Family

Filoli was built between 1915 and 1917 for William Bowers Bourn II, owner of one of California's richest gold mines and president of Spring Valley Water Company, supplying San Francisco's water, and his wife, Agnes Moody Bourn. In 1910 they had bought an estate in County Kerry, Ireland, but wanted a country place nearer home. The principal designer, San Francisco architect Willis Polk, used a free Georgian style that incorporated the tiled roofs characteristic of California. Polk had previously designed Bourn's houses in Grass Valley and on Webster Street in San Francisco. Polk's friend Bruce Porter was commissioned to collaborate with the Bourns in planning the gardens, which were laid out between 1917 and 1922. The horticulturist who designed the plantings and fixed the original color schemes was Isabella Worn; she supervised the garden's maintenance for 35 years.

Woodside, California

Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It has a council–manager system of government. The population of the town was 5,287 at the 2010 census.

Woodside is home to many of the Silicon Valley elite and is among the wealthiest communities in the United States. The median household income in the town is $212,917, and the median family income is $246,042.

History and culture

The Woodside area was originally home to natives belonging to the Ohlone tribe. In 1769, led by Gaspar de Portolá, Spanish explorers searching for San Francisco Bay camped at a site near Woodside.

Woodside is located on the Rancho Cañada de Raymundo Mexican Land grant. Woodside is said to be the oldest English-speaking settlement in the southern part of the San Francisco Peninsula. The first English-speaking settlers arrived in the early 19th century to log the rich stands of redwoods. Charles Brown constructed the first sawmill in Woodside on his Mountain Home Ranch around 1838. His adobe house, built in 1839, still stands today. By mid-century, the Woodside area had a dozen mills producing building materials for a booming San Francisco.

National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support the preservation of America’s diverse historic buildings, neighborhoods, and heritage through its programs, resources, and advocacy.

Overview

The National Trust for Historic Preservation aims to empower local preservationists by providing leadership to save and revitalize America's historic places, and by working on both national policies as well as local preservation campaigns through its network of field offices and preservation partners, including the National Park Service, State Historic Preservation Offices, and local preservation groups.

The National Trust is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with field offices in Boston, New York City, Charleston, Nashville, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Boise, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Canby (near Portland, Oregon), and Seattle. The organization is governed by a board of trustees and led by current president, Stephanie K. Meeks. The National Trust presently has around 750,000 members and supporters.

National trust

A national trust is an organisation dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of a particular geographic region. Although the focus of a national trust may vary by region, the principal role is to ensure the preservation of historically significant items, and to conserve areas of natural beauty. National trusts generally operate as private non-profit organizations. The first such trust organisation, The Trustees of Reservations, originated in 1890 as a regional group serving the state of Massachusetts, USA. The first national trust, the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, was founded in England in 1895 and operates as a charitable organisation serving England, Wales and Northern Ireland (it is commonly known in the UK as the National Trust). Other national trusts have since been set up around the world.

In 2007, the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) was established at a gathering in New Delhi, India, with a mandate to support collaboration and best practices among national trusts and similar associations. It has member organisations from over 50 countries.

Historic preservation

Historic preservation (US), heritage preservation or heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavour that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. The term tends to refer specifically to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness.

History

England

In England, antiquarian interests were a familiar gentleman's pursuit since the mid 17th century, developing in tandem with the rise in scientific curiosity. Fellows of the Royal Society were often also Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries.

Many historic sites were damaged as the railways began to spread across the UK; including Trinity Hospital and its church in Edinburgh, Furness Abbey, Berwick and Northampton Castle, and the ancient walls of York, Chester and Newcastle. In 1833 the Berkhamsted Castle became the first historic site in England to be officially protected by statute under the London and Birmingham Railway Acts of 1833-37, though the new railway line in 1834 did demolish the castle's gatehouse and outer earthworks to the south. By the mid 19th century, Britain's unprotected cultural heritage was being slowly destroyed. Even well-meaning archaeologists like William Greenwell excavated sites with virtually no attempt at their preservation.