Thornton Gardens, San Marino, California

With a stately mansion designed by Myron Hunt and portions of the original gardens by Florence Yoch and Lucille Council, this historic property is the largest in San Marino after the celebrated Huntington Gardens. The challenge was to create a legacy outdoor space for the owners who are leaving their property to the Huntington Museum for special events. The owners of Thornton Gardens have put in place a 20-year masterplan effort to restore the original grounds and core gardens by Yoch and Council and expand the site to its original size.

Building on the site’s exemplary historic structures, we collaborated with the owners to carefully add exterior features. Our original masterplan inspired the owners to acquire the adjacent residential properties to make room for a stone conservatory, a potting house, a small farm, a classically inspired barn and citrus orchard, a guest house, a pool house and garden with flanking arbors, a new lake carved from the foundations of a former neighboring residence, a boat house and a hierarchy of paths and service roads within a carefully constructed walled landscape park.