We took an infrequent Thursday off work to visit the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden in Pasadena, California this week and — as usual — I took many, many photos as we strolled through the garden. This isn’t a huge garden, rather a small, but rich, garden originally designed for the homeowners back in the 1930s. Even in a relatively small space, there is much to see and enjoy here, including a full-scale Japanese Tea House beautiful in both its design and interior decoration.
The garden is open each Thursday and the last Sunday of each month. Admission is $7.50 if pre-booked through the web site or $10 at the gate. The staff is very friendly and well-informed about the garden history and the plants within.
Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden Web Site
“The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden was created by Kinzuchi Fujii between 1935 – 1940 for Charles and Ellamae Storrier Stearns. Fujii (1875 – 1957) designed and built Japanese landscapes across Southern California in the first half of the 20th century. The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden is his only remaining garden. It is also the only intact example of a major Japanese-style garden created before World War II for a residence in Southern California.
This pond-style stroll garden features a fifteen-foot waterfall and a formal teahouse on approximately two acres of land. The garden is considered by many to be a masterwork and it demonstrates the adaptability of Japanese culture in modern America. Under the direction of Dr. Takeo Uesugi, landscape architect, professor emeritus at Cal Poly Pomona and a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden was faithfully restored from 2007 – 2013.”
Take a stroll through the gardens in the pictures below. These first photos present some major highlights, but you’ll find 121 photos in the slide show and Flickr gallery linked below.
See the entire photo album here in full-resolution
A Visit to the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden – Complete Flickr Album