Oases of Mind and Nature: Exploring The Huntington
Tucked away in the serene enclave of San Marino, California, The Huntington stands as one of the world’s premier cultural and research institutions. Founded in 1919 by railroad tycoon Henry E. Huntington and his wife Arabella, this remarkable 207-acre property offers a profound nexus where humanities, fine arts, and botanical sciences intersect.
What began as a private working ranch has transformed over a century into an international destination that welcomes more than one million visitors annually, fostering both deep scholarly research and public wonder.
1. The Library: A Sanctuary for Millions of Stories
The Huntington is not a traditional public lending library, but rather one of the world’s greatest independent research institutions. It safeguards an astonishing 12 million items spanning from the 11th to the 21st centuries.
Housed in a magnificent Mediterranean Revival-style building designed by architect Myron Hunt in 1920, the library is a primary destination for roughly 2,000 global scholars each year who study history, literature, and the history of science.
Among its most legendary treasures on display are:
- One of only eleven known vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible.
- The exquisite Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (circa 1410).
- The original handwritten manuscript of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography.
- Rare foundational texts, including early quartos of William Shakespeare’s plays and Isaac Newton’s personal annotated copy of his Principia Mathematica.
2. The Art Museum: Two Millennia of Visual Masterpieces
Boasting a collection of nearly 50,000 objects, The Huntington Art Museum spans across multiple centuries and geographic regions. The artwork is divided primarily into two sprawling showcases: European Art and American Art.
- The Huntington Art Gallery (European Art): Housed in the Huntingtons’ original 55,000-square-foot Beaux-Arts mansion, this space holds one of the most comprehensive collections of 18th- and 19th-century British portraiture outside the United Kingdom. It is home to Thomas Gainsborough’s world-famous masterpiece, The Blue Boy (1770), famously paired in conversation with contemporary installations such as Kehinde Wiley’s A Portrait of a Young Gentleman. The gallery is also rich in pre-French Revolution tapestries and porcelain.
- The Virginia Steele Scott Galleries (American Art): This expansive wing guides visitors through 31 galleries of American creative expression from the colonial period to the modern day. The collection covers painting, sculpture, photography, folk art, and decorative arts.
3. The Botanical Gardens: Living Landscapes of the World
For many visitors, the crown jewel of the estate is its 130 acres of themed botanical gardens. What superintendent William Hertrich helped cultivate from citrus groves into a living museum in the early 1900s has evolved into 16 distinct, carefully curated landscapes.
The gardens serve both as a peaceful mental escape for visitors and a vital scientific ecosystem for global plant conservation and cryopreservation. Highlights include:
- The Chinese Garden (Liu Fang Yuan / Garden of Flowing Fragrance): One of the largest classical Chinese gardens outside of China, complete with traditional pavilions, stone bridges, a massive lake, and hand-carved lattice work.
- The Japanese Garden: A century-old canyon landscape featuring a drum bridge, a tranquil koi pond, a historic Japanese house, a ceremonial teahouse, and a masterful bonsai collection.
- The Desert Garden: One of the world’s oldest and most significant outdoor collections of cacti and other succulents, showcasing remarkably sculpted, otherworldly desert adaptations.
Planning Your Visit
The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA. Because it is a highly sought-after destination, general admission typically requires booking a date-specific ticket online in advance via their official website.
Whether you are a scholar examining centuries-old historical manuscripts, an art enthusiast admiring the brushstrokes of British masters, or a nature lover meandering through a blooming rose garden, The Huntington offers a multi-sensory journey into the heights of human and natural beauty.
