Descanso Gardens is a botanical garden located in La Cañada Flintridge, Los Angeles County, California. Descanso gardens features a wide area, mostly forested, with artificial streams, ponds, and lawns. Descanso Gardens has a wide collection of fruit trees, including orange, peach, pear, pomegranate, crabapple, fruits of the genus prunus, grapes, and passionfruit. History The first Spanish governor of California deeded this land as part of a vast 36,000-acre rancho to Corporal José María Verdugo in 1784 for his loyal service. The property remained in the Verdugo family until 1869. In 1937, the property was purchased by E. Manchester Boddy, owner of The Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, and managed as a working ranch, which he called Rancho del Descanso. He built a two-story mansion of 22 rooms, designed by Beverly Hills architect James E. Dolena. He also purchased more than 400 acres north of the original property, the source of mountain streams that provide water for Descanso Gardens today. In 1942, when people of Japanese ancestry were forced into internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Boddy purchased up to 100,000 camellia plants from two Japanese-owned nurseries in the San Gabriel Valley run by his friends, the Uyematsu and Yoshimura families. He built his camellia collection – and later his rose and lilac collections – assisted by horticulturist J. Howard Asper and hybridizer Dr. Walter E. Lammerts. In 1953, Boddy sold this property to Los Angeles County and moved to San Diego County. Four years later, local volunteers formed the Descanso Gardens Guild, Inc. Now a 501(c) organization, the Guild today manages all garden operations in a public/private partnership with Los Angeles County. The gardens were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. In 1995, the gardens were featured in Visiting... with Huell Howser Episode 310. Collections Ancient Forest California Natives Camellia Forest Center Circle Japanese Garden Lilac Garden Nature's Table Oak Forest Oak Woodland Rose Garden Boddy House The Boddy House is the original 22-room mansion built by E. Manchester Boddy and designed by James Dolena in the Hollywood Regency style in 1937. The house is located in the far southeast corner of the property, overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains. In 2007, the Boddy House was rehabilitated for the 43rd annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design, and decorated in a contemporary re-interpretation of its original Hollywood Regency style. Subsequently, a major grant from the Ahmanson