The Gardens at Filoli, Through the Lens of Photographer Mike James
Starting in 2021, San Francisco Bay Area photographer Mike James spent four years documenting the gardens at Filoli, a National Trust Historic Site in Woodside, California. He captured their subtle changes from week to week, month to month, season to season, and year to year.
Presented here are select views from his project that show the landscape in bloom, along with his thoughts on each.
(Shown at top is Filoli’s Garden House, built circa 1919 and designed by Arthur Brown Jr., as seen
from the Sunken Garden with Yellow Madonna tulips in the foreground.)
photo by: Mike James
“There’s so much texture that goes literally as far as you can see … I also love the texture of the brick and wood. There’s so much richness to this particular space.”
Mike James
The carved oak door leading to the Sunken Garden came from the San Francisco house of Filoli’s original owners, William and Agnes Bourn. It is known as the Bourn Door.
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photo by: Mike James
“Somebody always keeps this current, so it’s just a nice little thing to see as you’re walking through that gate. This is one of the unique things about Filoli, little niches that were put into the walls. There are just enough of them that it keeps your attention.”
Mike James
A flower niche adjoins the wrought-iron gate that opens into the Walled Garden. Every week, Lead Horticulturalist Gillian Johnson assembles a different bouquet for this spot.
photo by: Mike James
“The Sunken Garden for me has always been a very reflective area.”
Mike James
Artist and landscape designer Bruce Porter created the Sunken Garden, one of the site’s earliest “garden rooms,” in 1919.
photo by: Mike James
“To me this shot captures everything that’s the essence of spring at Filoli—the fog, the feeling of moisture in the air, the beauty of the tulips in their color and the fact that spring has sprung and things are starting to show themselves.”
Mike James
Old photos and an oral history recorded by Filoli's second owner Lurline Roth have guided the modern-day plant selections in the Sunken Garden.
photo by: Mike James
“I wanted an expansive image where you just look at it and go, gosh, I want to be there right now, I can feel the bees just buzzing around.”
Mike James
The twin Celtic Knot Gardens contain English lavender, dwarf Japanese barberry, germander, and rosemary, among other plants. The Woodside-Atherton Garden Club donated these gardens to Filoli in 1976, and the site restored them in 2023, about a year after this photo was taken.
photo by: Mike James
“So looking back through the yew trees, you’re looking through these columns, and they’re directing you down through the formal gardens, and I just love the feel of that.”
Mike James
Filoli lore pinpoints a north-south axis, the Yew Allée (shown looking down from a spot called the High Place), as William Bourn’s favorite place in the landscape.
photo by: Mike James
The allée, a path lined by Irish yews grown from cuttings gathered at the Bourns’ estate in Ireland, culminates in the High Place (shown in background).
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