Filoli

Orchid Sale
2023-01-28 - 2023-01-29 | Filoli Historic House & Garden, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside, CA, 94062, United States
The Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society will be selling plants propagated by their members on the weekend of January 28-29, available with Filoli admission.

Set the Table for the Season - Live Tablescaping
2022-11-19 - 2022-11-20 | Filoli Historic House & Garden, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside, CA, 94062, United States
From Hanukkah to Oshōgatsu, the Japanese New Year, holidays bring us together around an artfully decorated dining table. This year, Filoli partners with people and organizations to feature tablescapes from many different winter holiday traditions. Join us as we set the tables on November 19 and 20, and see them in the Ballroom all season long.
Tablescape Partners:

Kwanzaa, set by author, poet, and storyteller Tureeda Mikell
Oshogatsu, set by Chiyomi Hirano, Filoli Member
Yalda Night, set by the IAM Foundation
Lunar New Year, set by Stellafloral, Fleur De Lis Florist, Yan Can Cook, and KTSF
Hanukkah, set by the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center
Las Posadas, set by Casa Circulo Cultural
Christmas, set by Mary George, Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Sunset Session: AJ Lee & Blue Summit
2022-09-14 17:30 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Wednesday, September 14, 5:30pm-7:00pm
Acclaimed bluegrass band AJ Lee & Blue Summit plays a special outdoor show at Filoli. Led by award-winning singer, songwriter, and mandolinist AJ Lee, the group has performed all over the world and draws from influences such as country, soul, swing, rock, and jam music. As the sun sets, relax in the Meadow and enjoy the live music against the backdrop of the historic House. Picnicking is welcome for this special event!
SOLD OUT
Event details:
Check-in opens at 5pm with the show running from 5:30pm-7:00pm.
There will be open seating in Filoli’s Meadow, where we encourage you to bring lawn chairs or a thick blanket to comfortably enjoy the scenic terrain.
For this special event, picnicking is welcome! However, no outside alcohol will be permitted and any guests arriving with outside alcohol will be instructed to leave it in their car before entering the concert.
The Bluebird Bar will be serving delicious cocktails starting at 5pm, with final service at 6:30pm. A second bar will offer beer and wine options as well.
Please reach out to tickets@filoli.org with any questions.

Art Walk
2022-07-30 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Art Walk showcases hand-picked local artists selling their work throughout Filoli’s spacious 16-acre Garden. Stroll the beautiful Garden while browsing original paintings, ceramics, jewelry, and more.
Learn More

Pride at Filoli
2022-06-04 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Pride at Filoli celebrates the LGBTQ+ community with a weekend of joyful creative expressions and experiences.
Learn More

Summer Nights
2022-06-02 16:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Head to Filoli any Thursday evening for a summer meet up with friends. Stroll the Garden, grab a refreshing drink, and watch the sun set across the landscape.
Learn More

Bonsai Demo | Kusamura Bonsai Club
2022-05-21 11:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Curious about bonsai care? See this ancient artform first hand; on May 21, Filoli will host the Kusamura Bonsai Club as they prune their bonsai trees and answer your questions about basic bonsai care. Stop by the Dining Room Terrace between 11am – 4pm on Saturday, May 21, to chat about bonsai tips and admire bonsai from both Filoli and Kusamura’s collections.
Learn More

Diosa Blooms Floral Takeover
2022-05-14 11:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Month, enjoy beautiful tropical blooms that celebrate Filipinx heritage throughout the House, arranged by Diosa Blooms. See them while the House is open (11am – 4pm) from May 14 -16, 2022!
Plan Your Visit

Haiku Display
2022-05-01 - 2022-05-31 | CA
Seven finalists and three winners of Filoli’s annual haiku contest were selected by San Mateo County Poet Laureate Aileen Cassinetto. Visit Filoli during the month of May to experience these evocative poems as they are displayed in the lush spring Garden that inspired them!
Plan Your Visit

Bonsai Exhibit
2022-05-01 - 2022-05-31 | CA
Explore highlights from our bonsai collection, on display all month with object labels translated in English, Japanese, and Traditional Chinese.
Learn More

Orchid Sale
2022-02-05 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
The Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society will be selling plants propagated by their members on the weekend of February 5-6 for Filoli’s first ever orchid sale, available with Filoli admission.
Plan a Visit During the Sale

Poetry that Blooms, with Kim Shuck and Adrian Arias
2022-01-30 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Former San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck and artist and activist Adrian Arias collaborate on an hour of visual poetry, merging Shuck’s spoken word with Arias’s bold flower paintings.
Reserve Your Tickets
This program is free with Filoli admission. Click here to reserve member tickets or click here to purchase non-member tickets for January 30.

Orchid Takeover
2022-01-29 - 2022-02-06 | CA
To add to the indoor beauty, the Santa Clara Valley and San Francisco Orchid Societies will participate in an Orchid Takeover in Filoli’s historic House from January 29 through February 6, on display for visitors to see with Filoli admission.
Plan a Visit

The Dream of a King, with Diane Ferlatte
2022-01-16 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Grammy-nominated storyteller Diane Ferlatte, accompanied by musician Erik Pearson, presents a youth and family-oriented performance that features stories and songs honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy.
Reserve Your Tickets
This program is free with Filoli admission. Click here to reserve member tickets or click here to purchase non-member tickets for January 16.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Weekend
2022-01-15 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Filoli honors those who have fought for a just cause and used their voices to fight against racial injustice. In the House, the Family Room TV features Bay Area local news coverage from the Civil Rights Movement. A soundscape in the Garden invites you to pause, listen, and reflect on famous oratories of our past as well as guiding voices of the Black Lives Matter movement. On Sunday the 16th, storyteller Diane Ferlatte presents a youth and family-oriented performance that features stories and songs that honor Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy.
Plan a Visit During MLK Weekend

Santa Weekend
2021-12-04 10:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Snap a selfie with Santa on his festive golden throne on the Woodland Garden Court from 10am-4pm.

Santa Weekends included with purchases of weekend daytime admission on select dates.
Daytime Admission

Orchard Days
2021-09-25 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Weekends, September 25 – October 31 | 10am-5pm

An autumn visit to Filoli reveals leaves changing color from green to red and gold, fruit ripening to its harvest peak, and nature preparing for winter. The Gentleman’s Orchard will be open every weekend, September 25-October 31, for Filoli visitors of all ages to enjoy. Weave through rows of apple trees and grapevines, learn about food production past and present, and take a fall- themed photo in the exquisite autumn light.
Plan a Visit to Orchard Days

Welcoming Week 2021
2021-09-10 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
This week long celebration strives to bring together neighbors of all backgrounds, including immigrants. Participating organizations affirm that building strong connections and inclusive places helps to achieve collective prosperity.

Most of Filoli’s historic staff immigrated or migrated to California, creating a new home built from different cultures, languages, and beliefs. Food has been used by immigrant communities to connect to home and preserve memories. Learn about some staff food traditions in the Kitchen this week.
Filoli is renovating our Vegetable Garden. We’re excited for it to be a place to celebrate the Bay Area’s diverse food cultures. Food has been used by immigrant communities to connect to home and preserve memories. Visit the Garden this week for an interactive display to share your food memories and what you would like to see growing.
PLAN A VISIT DURING WELCOMING WEEK
Learn more about Welcoming Week, which runs from September 10-19, at WelcomingAmerica.org.

Art Walk
2021-07-24 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Enjoy an outdoor event at Filoli featuring local artists displaying their crafts. Stroll through the garden and discover art right in your backyard.
Learn more about Art Walk

Pride Weekend
2021-06-05 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Celebrate who you are as Filoli celebrates the LGBTQ+ community with history, beauty, and fun.
Learn more about Pride at Filoli

Summer Nights
2021-05-27 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Skip on rush hour and head over to Filoli to enjoy the tranquil setting of Filoli at twilight.
Learn more about summer nights

Go Public Garden Days: Virtual Garden Profile
2021-05-14 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
May 14, 2021, 3:00pm – 5:00pm PST
Join Filoli, Tudor Place and Shofusu Japanese Culture Center for these Virtual Garden Profiles in celebration of Go Public Gardens Days. We’ll be showcasing research, history, collections and other incredible features via this Zoom webinar.
Learn more about the upcoming event

3:00 pm PST: Tudor Place

Tudor Place Garden: Over 200 Years of Growth

3:30 pm PST: Filoli

Inspiration from a Garden: Culture and Community at Filoli
Located 30 miles south of San Francisco, Filoli is nestled on a slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains and surrounded by more than 23,000 acres of the protected Peninsula watershed. To the two families who lived here, Filoli represented a desire to create a magnificent and enduring country estate. As we strive to connect our rich history with a vibrant future we’ve taken our inspiration from the diversity and interconnectedness of a garden. After all, it’s right in front of us!

4:00 pm PST: Shofusu Japanese Cultural Center

Elements of Japanese Gardens: guided virtual walkthrough of Shofuso
How do Japanese gardens differ from Western gardens? Through this guided tour of Shofuso, a 17th century-style Japanese house and garden in Philadelphia’s West Fairmount Park, learn what makes Japanese gardens unique. Shofuso Head Gardener Sandi Polyakov will guide you through the historical site and traditional elements, such as the koi pond, the tea garden, the island and more.

Click here to register

Women's Speaker Series | Women of Filoli's Horticulture
2021-03-23 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
Hosted by Haley O’Connor
Formal Garden Manager
Haley began as Filoli’s new Formal Garden Manager in November 2020. Before coming to Filoli, she was on the horticulture team at the Presidio. Having a biologist father and poet mother, “ I think their equal influence of nature and humanity birthed a horticulturist.” What excites Haley in horticulture today is seeing the field reflecting more ecologically progressive designs and practices. Being a woman in horticulture hasn’t always been easy for Haley and she’s had to deal with her fair share of mansplaining but has also had amazingly supportive teachers, mentors, and peers.
Gillian Johnson
Formal Garden Lead Horticulturist
Gillian first came to Filoli as a garden intern in 2015. After one more year to complete her plant science degree at CalPoly, where she also worked at the campus arboretum, she was hired onto Filoli’s horticulture staff. Drawn to horticulture through her love of the natural world, the desire to work outside made the decision to work in horticulture and easy one. Asked what excites her most about working in the field she noted, “I get to work at a beautiful place and see things grow and change over the seasons.”
Louise Webster
Formal Garden Lead Horticulturist
After moving to Hawaii, Louise was entranced by the beautiful flora around her and started to experiment with propagating plants and growing food. This led her on a journey to begin a career in horticulture: the beauty and mystery of plants in the landscape sparked a fire in her, a curiosity to gain more knowledge in order to get closer to the plants themselves. She started in organic agriculture, then got into caretaking properties, and then went to school for horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, which included an internship at the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kauai. Louise joined Filoli as a lead horticulturist in 2019. The art of aesthetic pruning very much fits into her horticulture passions: the marriage of artistic beauty with functional utility. The more she works in horticulture and the more she learns about plants, the greater her curiosity becomes. Louise says, “It feels like an endless mystery unraveling, and the more I find out, the more I want to investigate and learn.”
Leslie Freitas
Formal Garden Horticulturist
Leslie is drawn to the incredible diversity of plant uses from fibers and food to sound barriers and beautification. Leslie was drawn to Horticulture because she started out as an art major and was interested in the idea of designing with plants. Prior to being hired onto the staff in 2019, Leslie completed a six-month apprenticeship in 2018. But Filoli’s apprenticeship was by far not her only experience in horticulture! Leslie also completed year-long internships at both Longwood Gardens and the Indianapolis Museum of Art (now called Newfields), and also worked at Temple Square in Salt Lake City while studying at the Utah State University. Part of Leslie’s work at Filoli includes assisting in plant collections. When asked what gets Leslie excited about horticulture today, she responded, “I get excited about learning plant stories, where they originally grow, what they’ve been used for, who discovered them or why they got their names. Each new one feels like a new friend.”
Olivia McCandless
Production Horticulturist
Growing up in the Bay Area, Olivia was attracted to horticulture through countless hours spent visiting public gardens in San Francisco and the East Bay. She was inspired to pursue the field formally after spending two weeks of every summer on her aunt’s farm in upstate New York. It was there that she learned how to grow vegetables and raise animals; the time she spent there learning and reflecting, paved the way for where she is today. Before coming to Filoli she graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Agricultural Sciences and interned at Jewell Gardens in Skagway, Alaska in the summer. On the heels of interning at Filoli she was the Sustainable Plant Health Care Intern at Ganna Walska Lotusland in the summer of 2018. Olivia interned in spring 2018 and joined the staff in 2019. Asked what excites her the most about horticulture today, Oliva replied, “… the opportunity to create spaces of healing and empowerment for all women.”
Lisa Griffin
Production Horticulturist
Both of Lisa’s parents were avid gardeners, and in fact, both sets of great grandparents were farmers, so she believes she has horticulture in her genes. Being lucky to grow up with a yard and gardening alongside her parents, and learning in middle school about the achievements of Luther Burbank were two important factors that led her to want to study horticulture. While attending Oregon State University, Lisa was a member of the horticulture club, which changed her life, “Initially, I was focused on becoming a professional gardener, but the experiences at the club, especially winning a Bromeliad during a raffle and being co-chair of the houseplant committee, introduced me to tropical plants and greenhouse production. My college education shifted away from gardening and became focused on production in greenhouses and nursery environments.” Lisa interned at both the Smithsonian Institute and the National Zoo during university. After working as a wholesale greenhouse grower, Lisa landed on Filoli’s horticulture team in 2001. Lisa appreciates the variety of work available in horticulture and the positive effects it can have on people and the environment from rooftop gardens, vertical wall gardens, rainwater swales and many others
Register here

Women's Speaker Series | Stephanie Linder, ED of San Francisco Botanical Garden
2021-03-16 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
Stephanie Linder, Executive Director of San Francisco Botanical Garden
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Stephanie Linder became the Executive Director of the San Francisco Botanical Garden in 2018, bringing 20 years of experience in leadership roles at conservation, park, and women’s organizations including Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Sierra Club, The Trust for Public Land, and Planned Parenthood.
She is an alumna and former Board Chair of Emerge California, a candidate training program for women seeking elected office with a majority of graduates being women of color. She holds a Master of Arts in American History from Binghamton University in New York and has taught U.S. Women’s History at the college level.
Register here

Women's Speaker Series | Naomi Miroglio, Architect & Historian
2021-03-09 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
Naomi Miroglio, Architect & Historian
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Naomi is a remarkable advocate for the great value and untapped potential of historic resources to enrich contemporary life. Her work is inspired by the history of existing buildings and sites, and by uncovering the unique stories each one holds. She has designed sensitive solutions for structures ranging from the modest vernacular by unknown craftspeople, to landmarks by master architects like Frank Lloyd Wright. Her award-winning designs build on the distinctiveness of the original architecture, creating relevant modern places that celebrate the cultures and circumstances that shaped them. Naomi’s professional background is augmented by training in architectural conservation at the International Centre for Conservation in Rome, Italy.
Register here

Women's Speaker Series | Lori Fogarty, CEO of Museum of California
2021-03-02 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
Lori Forgarty, Director and CEO of the Oakland Museum of California
Tuesday, March 2,2021
Lori Fogarty is the Director and CEO of the Oakland Museum of California, a multidisciplinary museum that brings together collections of art, history and natural sciences to tell the extraordinary stories of California and its people. Lori led the Museum’s $63 million “Museum of California” campaign and building renovation project, which has included the reinstallation of 90,000 square feet of gallery space as well as the first major enhancement to the Museum’s landmark building. She is currently leading the “All In: Campaign for OMCA,” an $85 million comprehensive campaign to support programs and operations, endowment and investment fund growth, and capital improvements to the Museum’s seven-acre campus. Lori has spearheaded OMCA’s efforts to place the visitor at the center of the Museum experience and to focus the institution’s efforts around community engagement and social impact. Prior to her current position, Lori was executive director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and was senior deputy director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Register here

Virtual Haiku Reading
2021-02-14 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Join San Mateo County Poet Laureate, Aileen Casinetto, on Filoli’s Instagram for a virtual haiku reading and a special announcement of the Haiku Competition winners!
Follow us on Instagram for Notifications

Lunar New Year: Year of the Ox
2021-02-13 | CA
From the comfort of your home, join us for a virtual Lunar New Year celebration as we learn about the meaning and traditions of this important and festive holiday. This year is the Year of the Ox.
More info coming soon!

Santa Saturdays
2020-12-19 10:30 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | CA
Meet Santa in Filoli’s Beautiful Woodland Garden
Saturdays 10:30 am – 4:00 pm
Our popular Santa Saturdays are returning in December with a twist! Santa will be located outdoors on our beautiful Woodland Garden Court. You and yours are invited to take a socially distanced selfie with Santa himself.
Saturday, December 19

Santa Sunday | Extra Day!
2020-12-13 10:30 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Meet Santa in Filoli’s Beautiful Woodland Garden

Sunday, December 13, 10:30 am – 4pm

Our popular Santa Saturdays are returning in December with a twist! Santa will also be here Sunday, December 13 due to popular demand. Santa will be located outdoors on our beautiful Woodland Garden Court. You and yours are invited to take a socially distanced selfie with Santa himself.

Tickets for Sunday, December 13
