- Light rails now makes it cheap and easy to travel from La Verne to cultural hubs across Los Angeles
Margaret Contreras
LV Life Editor
In San Marino, just a 5-10 minute shuttle ride from the Allen Avenue stop on the new Metro A Line, there is a botanical garden called The Huntington.
The sprawling property also has art galleries, a statue garden and internationally inspired gardens.
Security guards will ask if you have a current reservation. Tickets need to be purchased prior to arrival and you will be prompted to “reserve” the time you plan to arrive at the gardens.
Ticket prices vary. During the week, adults pay $24-$29; for kids under 12, it’s $13, and free for kids under 3. Weekends are more expensive, though discounts are available for students and military.
Full time undergraduates can get an annual membership for $36.
And the first Thursday of the month is free.
There are benefits that the garden offers that students can take advantage of, with events happening at the botanical garden that are free, including lectures and other events that are consistently being added to the websites’ calendar.
“There are lectures and other programs and workshops,” Katie said.
In the main house there are art exhibitions with original paintings such as “The Blue Boy” created by Thomas Gainsborough. However when you first enter the first room that guests enter into is a large library. Decorated with historical furniture, it’s as if stepping back into time. Walls of books fill the room, opposite to the fireplace.
At first glance they all look like a hardcover, leather special edition. But at a closer glance, the books are all first editions.
Walking through one of the halls, original paintings fill the walls. Then at the entrance to the exhibition wall where “The Blue Boy”, there are even more famous paintings, but all original editions.
When exiting the exhibit hall/room, in a hallway located in the back is a prayer chapel. On the wall is tall, vibrant multicolored stained glass of Jesus and his disciples. There are stairs leading to the second floor, but there is a landing where the view of the glass changes. Once reaching the last landing the perspective changes and you can see how massive the window really is.
The second story is filled with medieval furniture and the original story of Cinderella on a tapestry. Each room on the second floor has furniture that showcases the different historical parts of the world. Including in Asia and the United Kingdom.
After going through the main house, rounding the back there is a walkway through the rose garden that takes you into the Japanese garden. There are arches filled with hanging roses and rose bushes on each side. Then there is another walkway that leads to the Vista Sculpture garden.
There are two lions on each side of the walkway on a pedestal, which represent the protection.
Based on the architecture and gardens in Japan. There are three tiers of the garden, with a small pond with a classical Japanese bridge. On one end of the garden there is a display of the Japanese heritage Shōya House. In the display are historical garments and the home is laid out in historical accuracy. Across the other side you can see a large bell.
Then taking a trail from the Japanese garden will take you to the Chinese garden. To enter into the garden, the path goes through a recreated historic home in China, it ends at a large building that is made of glass. There is a large pond with a bridge stretching across it. There are historical Chinese buildings around the lake and then at the end there is a temple type structure.
Walking through there is a small cave to allow guests to walk behind a waterfall. In the large pond there are large Koi and small water turtles.
“The Chinese garden does have a big significance here,” gift store employee Elise said. “But the Japanese, the rose and the desert gardens are also very popular here.”
I suggest allocating an entire day to be able to walk through the entire Hunignton gardens and exhibits. There are many gardens to walk through, even a large green house that leads to a kids garden and an area where the Huntington offers workshops and classes to learn how to grow plants for your kitchen. The green house is sectioned off each room to have the humidity of different jungles, including South America, Africa and the Amazons.
“My favorite (garden) is the north vista sculptures,” Elise said. “It feels like you’re in the pride and prejudice.”
The Huntington is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays to Mondays and it’s closed Tuesdays.
To purchase a ticket and to learn more about the college pass, visit huntington.org.
Margaret Contreras can be reached at margaret.contreras@laverne.edu
- To get to The Huntington by transit from the University of La Verne
Hop on the the Metro A line
Exit at Allen Avenue
Turn right onto Allen Avenue
Turn left on Corson Street
Hop on the 10 Old Pasadena & Old Pasadena bus/shuttle
Get off at Del Mar Boulevard
Turn right onto South Allen Avenue
Continue straight onto West Bound Drive then take a slight left
Turn left onto Gray Drive
Then turn right to arrive
The total time to get there is about an hour and 19 minutes depending on traffic
- To get to The Huntington by car from the University of La Verne
Head towards Bonita Avenue and turn left
Turn right on Damien Avenue
Then turn left unto Foothill Boulevard
Turn right to merge on the CA-210 West towards Pasadena
Then take the exit 27B towards Allen Avenue
Use the left lane to merge onto East Maple Street
Turn left on Allen Avenue
The total time to get there is about 30 depending on traffic
Magaret Contreras is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is editorial director and LV Life editor of the Campus Times and previously worked as editor-in-chief and a staff writer.
