Descanso Gardens is a botanic garden that had previously been a private estate/ranch owned by the newspaperman Elias Manchester Boddy. Located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, it has a long history, including the disenfranchisement of F.M. Uyematsu of Star Nursery and F.W. Yoshimura of the San Gabriel nursery during the period of Japanese internment of World War II, whose inventory made up the bulk of many of the plantings. It was also once considered as a possible site for Disneyland. By 1953, it was sold to the state and became the botanic garden that exists today.
Website: https://www.descansogardens.org/gardens-and-collections/explore-the-gardens/japanese-garden/
Descanso Gardens is a botanic garden that was previously a private estate and ranch owned by newspaperman Elias Manchester Boddy. It has a long history, including the dispossession of F.M. Uyematsu of Star Nursery and F.W. Yoshimura of the San Gabriel Nursery during the Japanese American internment of World War II. Their nursery stock made up the bulk of many of the garden's plantings. It was also once considered as a possible site for Disneyland. In 1953, the property was sold to the state and became the botanic garden that exists today.
I found the "tea house" unconventional. It was more like a raised deck or platform than a traditional tea house. There was also a significant amount of decking and several ramps surrounding the structure, all of which seemed to accommodate dining. Apparently, the nearby minka (farmhouse) had served as the botanic garden's concession stand for many years before the 1980s.
Overall, the garden was a pleasant mid-sized Japanese garden with many authentic features. It is clearly a North American interpretation of a Japanese garden that has evolved over more than 60 years, but it is still a good place to begin one's exploration of Japanese garden design.
