Los Angeles: What to See & Do: Sights: Huntington

Huntington

Wear your walking shoes. The Italianate mansion and gardens of railroad magnate Henry Huntington are set on 120 acres in exquisite San Marino, just south of Pasadena. Henry and his wife, Arabella (formerly his aunt), were big collectors—of rare books (including the double-elephant folio edition of Audubon’s Birds of America), paintings and plants. Husband and wife are buried on the property in a mausoleum designed by John Russell Pope, who later designed the Jefferson Memorial, in Washington, D.C. While the Huntington Gallery (Henry’s former home) is undergoing renovation and won’t reopen until May 2008, the famous duo of Gainsborough’s Blue Boy and Thomas Lawrence’s Pinkie are on view in a recently opened contemporary gallery. The showstopping grounds include a Japanese garden and a collection of 1,400 varieties of camellias. A twelve-acre Chinese garden is under construction. Café and Tea Room food is strictly ho-hum. Treat yourself to lunch or breakfast (closed for dinner and on Sunday) at the delightful Julienne (2649 Mission St.; 626-441-2299), a favorite of San Marino ladies in their cardigans and pearls as well as Pasadena professionals. Admission is $15; closed Monday; open Tuesday to Friday noon – 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; summer hours, Memorial Day to Labor Day, open Tuesday to Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.