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Upcoming & Past Events

    • March 26, 2023
    • 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
    • Palm Springs, California
    • 0
    Join waitlist


    The restored Eckbo, Royston, & Williams landscape at the Koerner Residence.

    Photo courtesy Henry Blackham.


    On Sunday, March 26, Eden editor Steven Keylon will host a very limited number of guests for an exclusive CGLHS spring fundraiser in Palm Springs. Attendance will be limited to thirty. CGLHS members will have an opportunity to buy tickets before they are released to the general public on February 22.

    The day will start with a rare chance to see historic Smoke Tree Ranch and step into Palm Springs in the 1920s with vast open desert spaces, a sprinkling of intermingled houses, and a Western-themed Guest Ranch reminiscent of the simplicity of life in a by-gone era. Nearly 400 acres in total, Smoke Tree Ranch is entirely unique. After a stroll through the mature desert specimen garden, where we will hear more about the history of Smoke Tree Ranch, guests will be treated to a luncheon at the Ranch House.


    Smoke Tree Ranch entrance, circa 1950. 

    Following lunch, guests will drive the short distance to nearby Deepwell Estates, to the magnificent Koerner Residence. Steven Keylon recently authored the Class 1 Historic Resource nomination for the Koerner Residence and will share the history of this important house and garden. Sited on an acre parcel, the house was designed in 1955 by architect E. Stewart Williams. Collaborating with landscape architects Eckbo, Royston, & Williams, the team created a masterpiece of environmental design. The house was recently and painstakingly restored using the original blueprints, reducing the square footage to bring the architecture back to its original configuration.

    The landscape was also restored by preservation landscape architect JC Miller, using Eckbo, Royston, & Williams' original landscape drawings. This spectacular landscape is now the best and most authentic example of a modernist landscape in the Coachella Valley. Miller, who oversaw the restoration of the gardens, will walk us through the exacting process.

    This special Tour and Talk will be the first tour of this beautiful garden ever offered.

    To read the Koerner Residence nomination, click here. 

    For attendees local to the Coachella Valley, or those who may still be in the desert on Tuesday, March 28, you are invited to an optional cocktail reception and lecture at Smoke Tree Ranch's Disney Hall. Steven Keylon and JC Miller will be reprising their Modernism Week lecture "Landscape Exhibitionism: How Early Modern Landscape Exhibitions Influenced Eckbo, Royston, & Williams in Palm Springs." With rarely seen photographs and drawings, Keylon and Miller will show how contemporary California landscape design matured from a groundbreaking 1937 exhibition and on through the postwar years.

    Detailed instructions will be emailed to registered attendees.


    About our speakers:

    STEVEN KEYLON lives in Palm Springs and writes and lectures about Southern California’s cultural landscapes. He is the editor of Eden, the Journal of the California Garden & Landscape History Society and the author of The Design of Herbert W. Burns (2018) and The Modern Architecture of Hugh Michael Kaptur (2019). He recently co-authored, with Tracy Conrad and Steve Vaught, Tom O’Donnell: Generous Spirit of Palm Springs (2022). He also serves as vice-president of the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, is on the boards of DocomomoUS/SoCal and Beverly Hills Heritage and a founding member of The Cultural Landscape Foundation Stewardship Council. He is a sixth-generation Californian.

    JC MILLER, ASLA, is a California licensed landscape architect with over 25 years of experience that includes analysis, planning, design, and construction documentation for a wide variety of project types.  A recognized expert on postwar landscape history, he writes and speaks frequently on mid-century California gardens and public spaces and the designers that shaped them. He is co-author (with Reuben M. Rainey) of two books on Robert Royston: Modern Public Gardens: Robert Royston and the Suburban Park (William Stout Publishers, 2006), and Robert Royston (University of Georgia Press in association with LALH, 2020). This is the first full biography of the landscape architect Robert Royston, in whose office Miller worked for over a decade and, as a principal, assisted Royston in the design and execution of his final projects. millerstudiola.com

    • May 20, 2023
    • 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
    • 30
    Register


    Sonoma County has two fantastic gardens that are transitioning from historic nurseries to gardens. Each large property has extensive collections of unusual plants and have been influential nurseries. The California Garden and Landscape History Society will visit them on Saturday, May 20th, 2023.

    SCHEDULE

    • 10:00 - Meet at Western Hills Garden for check-in and coffee, followed by a talk and tour. 
    • 12:00 - Lunch in the Western Hills picnic area - a light lunch will be provided
    • 1:00 - Drive to Hidden Forest Nursery
    • 1:45 - Hidden Forest talk and tour
    • 3:15 - End of the event 

    Western Hills Garden, located outside Occidental, was begun in 1959 by Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich as a rare plant nursery and soon became known for its innovative plant collection. After 1991, the property underwent ownership changes and was cared for by volunteers for some years. In 2021, Hadley Dynak and Kent Strader purchased the garden and are fashioning a new vision for the place. Hadley will give us an overview of the nursery history, then we’ll spend some time exploring the extensive grounds and the collection of unusual plants. Restoration of the gardens is underway, and the gardens are closed to the public, except by arrangement. This is a great opportunity to visit this singular place. 

    Hidden Forest Nursery, formerly Sonoma Horticultural Nursery, is near Sebastopol and was established in 1964. Mike Boss purchased the property in 2019 to save it from development. He will greet us and give us an overview of what makes the garden special. Over the 8-acre property, there is a large nursery surrounded by several garden areas, a charming lake, and many uncommon shrubs and trees, including a large collection of dawn redwoods and a handkerchief tree, among other treasures. Mike is currently introducing long-lived edible plants and he continues to feature a great selection of shade-loving plants for purchase.

    Please join us while we hear about the history of these wonderful gardens and plans for their preservation. CGLHS will be sharing the profit from the day with each garden. 

    Additional information about the garden may be found at:

    www.westernhillsgarden.com

    https://hiddenforestnursery.com

    DETAILS 

    Please bring a water bottle - we can refill it for you. Surfaces will be uneven. Please carpool if possible. 

Past events

December 01, 2022 2022 Annual Meeting
October 14, 2022 CGLHS Annual Conference: Past, Present and Future of the Los Angeles River
September 21, 2022 The Northwest Gardens of Lord & Schryver
June 01, 2022 Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea
May 14, 2022 The Secret Gardens of Old Monterey Walking Tour
May 11, 2022 Garden History of the Monterey Peninsula
April 30, 2022 A Walking Tour of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
November 17, 2021 San Francisco's Golden Gate Park: A Thousand and Seventeen Acres of Stories
November 10, 2021 An Introduction to Landscape Photography
October 13, 2021 Apples & Ciders & Trees (oh, my!)
June 16, 2021 Japanese Gardens in California
May 19, 2021 The Glamorous Gardens of Tommy Tomson
May 12, 2021 Documenting Landscapes in Perpetuity: The Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS)
April 21, 2021 How to Research 201: a review guide to researching people
March 24, 2021 CGLHS Lecture: The Modern Landscapes of Robert Royston
February 17, 2021 CGLHS Lecture: Shaping Landscape Architecture in the Early 20th Century: Race, Gender, and Difference
November 18, 2020 CGLHS Lecture: Landscapes Lost or Forgotten
October 21, 2020 CGLHS Lecture: The Olmsted Brothers: Innovative Ecological Designs for California
September 23, 2020 CGLHS Lecture: Landscapes for Leisure
August 19, 2020 CGLHS Lecture: Hayes Perkins, The “Magic Carpet” Man
March 28, 2020 POSTPONED: Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Botanist Mildred E. Mathias: Film, Lecture, Tour, and Lunch
March 28, 2020 POSTPONED: Preservation Behind the Scenes in Filoli's Historic Garden
March 21, 2020 While Events are Cancelled: Online Resources from CGLHS
March 09, 2020 Huntington Lecture: California and the Birth of the Modern Garden
November 17, 2019 Outstanding American Gardens Lecture
October 04, 2019 CGLHS ANNUAL CONFERENCE: LOMPOC AND MISSION LA PURISIMA
September 21, 2019 Busch Gardens, Pasadena, Part 2: Lower Gardens
August 10, 2019 Busch Gardens Tour in Pasadena
August 05, 2019 California Ranches: Lands in Transition
June 03, 2019 Richard Neutra, Landscape Architect
May 11, 2019 Glendale Historical Society Restoration Expo
November 19, 2018 Beatrix Farrand Film Screenings
November 02, 2018 CGLHS ANNUAL CONFERENCE: MARIN COUNTY
July 29, 2018 BUSCH GARDENS: ADOLPHUS BUSCH'S EARLY AMUSEMENT PARK
May 19, 2018 TWO HISTORIC GARDENS IN PASADENA
December 02, 2017 FRANCIS DEAN AND THE ART OF MODERN LANDSCAPE
November 12, 2017 THE LANDSCAPE DESIGNS OF RALPH D. CORNELL
October 27, 2017 LANDSCAPES FOR LEISURE: ANNUAL CONFERENCE
September 19, 2017 RUTH SHELLHORN: MIDCENTURY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
July 19, 2017 KATE O. SESSIONS: A NETWORK AND LEGACY OF BOTANICAL BOUNTY
April 01, 2017 ERNEST BATCHELDER: HIS PUBLIC LEGACY, HIS PRIVATE GARDEN
September 23, 2016 CHICO, JEWEL OF THE NORTH VALLEY
November 02, 2015 SAVING OUR GARDENS…HONORING OUR PAST
October 02, 2015 CULTIVATING IDENTITY: BALBOA PARK AS CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
June 05, 2015 ARCHITECTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL WALKING TOUR OF THE VILLAGE OF MALAGA COVE IN PALOS VERDES ESTATES
November 07, 2014 WHAT’S OUT THERE WEEKEND LOS ANGELES: THE PUBLIC LANDSCAPES OF RALPH D. CORNELL
October 24, 2014 THE LANDSCAPE LEGACY OF LOCKWOOD DE FOREST
September 28, 2013 BECOMING PUBLIC: DESIGN, HISTORY, PLANTS AND PRESERVATION IN EAST BAY GARDENS
May 31, 2013 WHEN THEY WERE WILD
April 12, 2013 A FRESNO FROLIC
October 13, 2012 PIECING TOGETHER PASADENA’S GARDEN HISTORY: A Unique Project in an American City
September 08, 2012 PLANTS, PASSION, AND PROPAGATION: A HORTICULTURAL TOUR OF SONOMA COUNTY
September 09, 2011 RANCHOS TO CASTLES: A TOUR OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY
November 13, 2010 KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES: BEATRIX FARRAND’S SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GARDENS
October 15, 2010 SANTA CRUZ: LAND OF 1001 WONDERS
October 02, 2010 NATURE OF THE PLACE
July 11, 2010 NEVER MET A VIEW I DIDN’T LIKE
May 22, 2010 ON THE RAZOR’S EDGE
April 17, 2010 LANDSCAPE AS SANCTUARY
October 23, 2009 LANDSCAPES FOR LIVING: THE POST WAR YEARS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
September 26, 2008 SPIRIT OF LANDSCAPE: CALIFORNIA’S LOWER OWENS RIVER VALLEY
September 27, 2007 CALIFORNIA JAPANESE STYLE GARDENS: TRADITION AND PRACTICE
October 20, 2006 CALIFORNIA’S SARATOGA: SPRINGS, ORCHARDS & GARDENS
June 11, 2005 BEYOND VINEYARDS: LANDSCAPES OF THE NAPA VALLEY
November 04, 2004 THE EMPIRE THAT CITRUS BUILT: LANDSCAPE HISTORY OF OLD SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
July 25, 2003 EARTHLY PARADISE: GARDEN HISTORY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO PENINSULA
October 11, 2002 CULTIVATING CAPISTRANO: HISTORIC VALLEY GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES
September 22, 2002 GARDEN HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
October 07, 2000 GARDEN HISTORY OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA
August 20, 1999 ARTISTIC LEGACIES: UNLOCKING THE TREASURES BEHIND THE GARDEN GATES
February 25, 1999 REGIONAL MEETING: HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA GARDENS
May 02, 1998 SACRAMENTO AREA EMPHASIS
October 11, 1997 PASADENA AREA EMPHASIS
April 12, 1997 BAY AREA EMPHASIS
November 09, 1996 BOTANIC HERITAGE GEMS OF SAN DIEGO
February 16, 1996 SECOND ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
September 23, 1995 FIRST ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

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