Huntington Library Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (Photo – huntington.org).
American friends, Patricia and Bob, told me about the magnificent gardens at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.
By Christopher Bonin
My visit to the Huntington showed me it is a place that recharges your batteries. Letters signed by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and telegrams from Abraham Lincoln are exhibited in the library, alongside rare editions of European books and exceptional works of art. The gardeners at The Huntington Botanical Gardens are artists in the fields of botany and horticulture. Among the Huntington’s 1,400 varieties of roses, several come from France (notably from Parc de Bagatelle, one of the botanical parks of the city of Paris). Since 2021 the Château de Bagatelle in Paris has also been restored by the Mansart foundation. This private foundation, which promotes French heritage, works with Georgetown University (Washington, DC). Some works, previously on the walls of the Château de Bagatelle, are now at the MET in New York.
Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington, who founded the Huntington Library, were married in Paris in the American Chapel (then located at 21 rue de Berri), but which no longer exists. Today there is an American Cathedral in Paris (23 avenue Georges V, 8th arrondissement) and an American church, 65 quai d’Orsay (7th arrondissement). Arabella had two residences in Paris, the first at 2 rue de l’Elysée (8th arrondissement) and the second at 2 rue de Lubeck (16th arrondissement). The first address now houses an annex of the Presidency of the French Republic (Palais de l’Elysée), and the second is now the Kuwaiti embassy in Paris.
The Huntington Library is a haven of happiness that regularly hosts Hollywood productions (Beverly Hills Cop 2, CSI Miami, Parks and Recreation, among others). Arabella Huntington also appears as Sylvia Chamberlain (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn) in the HBO series The Gilded Age.
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