Descanso Gardens
Descanso Gardens is a 150-acre botanical garden in La Cañada-Flintridge. It is operated by the Descanso Gardens Guild in a public-private partnership with Los Angeles County. The gardens occupy the majority of the land purchased in 1937 by Elias Manchester Boddy, owner of The Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News. Originally the land was managed as a working ranch, which he called Rancho del Descanso and where he built a two-story mansion of 22 rooms, designed by Beverly Hills architect James E. Dolena in the Hollywood Regency style. Descanso Gardens is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for contributions to horticulture in Southern California, the preservation of public green space during the mid-20th-century rise of urbanism, and the preservation of cultural landscapes native to Southern California.
La Cañada-Flintridge, Los Angeles County
Photographers: John Bare, Lori Norman