115-688: Filoli , also known as the Bourn-Roth Estate , is a country house set in 16 acres (6.5 ha ) of formal gardens surrounded by a 654-acre (265 ha) estate , located in Woodside, California , about 25 miles (40 km) south of San Francisco , at the southern end of Crystal Springs Reservoir , on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains . Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation , Filoli
230-453: A Celtic language , see Gaulish *ivos , Breton ivin, Irish ēo , Welsh yw (ywen) and French if . In German it is known as Eibe . Baccata is Latin for 'bearing berries'. The word yew as it was originally used seems to refer to the colour brown. The yew (μίλος) was known to Theophrastus , who noted its preference for mountain coolness and shade, its evergreen character and its slow growth. Most Romance languages, with
345-455: A château or a Schloss can be a fortified or unfortified building, a country house, similar to an Ansitz , is usually unfortified. If fortified, it is called a castle, but not all buildings with the name "castle" are fortified (for example Highclere Castle in Hampshire ). The term stately home is subject to debate, and avoided by historians and other academics. As a description of
460-502: A branch of a yew tree to the tombs of those who had died recently so they would be guided in their return to the Land of Shadows. The yew tree has been found near chapels, churches, and cemeteries since ancient times as a symbol of the transcendence of death. They are often found in the main squares of villages where people celebrated the open councils that served as a way of general assembly to rule village affairs. It has been suggested that
575-700: A country house, the term was first used in a poem by Felicia Hemans , "The Homes of England", originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1827. In the 20th century, the term was later popularised in a song by Noël Coward , and in modern usage it often implies a country house that is open to visitors at least some of the time. In England, the terms "country house" and "stately home" are sometimes used vaguely and interchangeably; however, many country houses such as Ascott in Buckinghamshire were deliberately designed not to be stately, and to harmonise with
690-623: A forest canopy, but is tolerant of soil pH when planted by humans, such as their traditional placement in churchyards and cemeteries , where some of the largest and oldest trees in northwestern Europe are found. It grows well in well-drained soils, tolerating nearly any soil type, typically humus and base-rich soils, but also on rendzina and sand soils given adequate moisture. They can survive temporary flooding and moderate droughts. Roots can penetrate extremely compressed soils, such as on rocky terrain and vertical cliff faces. T. baccata normally appears individually or in small groups within
805-559: A former barn that has been turned into the Sally MacBride Nature Center. It also leads to a bridge over the San Andreas Fault , which cuts through the property. Filoli has served as the set for many Hollywood films . Most famously, it is the mansion seen from the air in the opening credits of the television series Dynasty . The mansion's plush interiors were also featured in the first episodes of
920-428: A fortunate few; it was the centre of its own world, providing employment to hundreds of people in the vicinity of its estate . In previous eras, when state benefits were unheard of, those working on an estate were among the most fortunate, receiving secured employment and rent-free accommodation. At the summit of this category of people was the indoor staff of the country house. Unlike many of their contemporaries prior to
1035-587: A free Georgian style that incorporated the tiled roofs characteristic of California. Polk had previously designed Bourn's houses in Grass Valley and on Webster Street in San Francisco. Polk's friend, artist and designer Bruce Porter , was commissioned to collaborate with the Bourns in planning the gardens, which were laid out between 1917 and 1922. The horticulturist who designed the plantings and fixed
1150-536: A good trunk much wood has to be discarded. There was a tradition of planting yew trees in churchyards throughout Britain and Ireland, among other reasons, as a resource for bows, such as at " Ardchattan Priory whose yew trees, according to other accounts, were inspected by Robert the Bruce and cut to make at least some of the longbows used at the Battle of Bannockburn ." The trade of yew wood to England for longbows
1265-683: A hundred for sixteen pounds. In 1507 the Holy Roman Emperor asked the Duke of Bavaria to stop cutting yew, but the trade was profitable, and in 1532 the royal monopoly was granted for the usual quantity "if there are that many." In 1562, the Bavarian government sent a long plea to the Holy Roman Emperor asking him to stop the cutting of yew, and outlining the damage done to the forests by its selective extraction, which broke
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#17327800275041380-529: A mixture of high architecture , often as interpreted by a local architect or surveyor, and determined by practicality as much as by the whims of architectural taste. An example of this is Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset, a house of many periods that is unified architecturally by the continuing use of the same mellow, local Ham Hill stone . The fashionable William Kent redesigned Rousham House only to have it quickly and drastically altered to provide space for
1495-535: A new form. Yew wood was historically important, finding use in the Middle Ages in items such as musical instruments, furniture, and longbows . The species was felled nearly to extinction in much of Europe. In the modern day it is not considered a commercial crop due to its very slow growth, but it is valued for hedging and topiary . Certain compounds found in the bark of yew trees were discovered in 1967 to have efficacy as anti-cancer agents. The precursors of
1610-561: A number of place names. These include the Proto-Celtic eburos ; Old Irish ibar ; Irish iobhar , iubhar and iúr ; and the Scottish Gaelic iubhar , Newry , Northern Ireland is an anglicization of An Iúraigh , an oblique form of An Iúrach , which means "the grove of yew trees". The modern Irish name for Newry is An tIúr (pronounced [ənʲ ˈtʲuːɾˠ]), which means "the yew tree". An tIúr
1725-465: A series of formally enclosed spaces framed by brick walls and clipped hedges, which open one from another, providing long axial views, in which profuse naturalized plantings of hardy and annual plants contrast with lawns, brick and gravel paths, formal reflecting pools, framed in walls and clipped hedging in box, holly, laurel, and yew ( illustration, right ) and punctuated by massive terracotta pots and many narrowly columnar Irish yews , originally grown on
1840-400: A trunk up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) (exceptionally 4 m or 13 ft 1 in) in diameter. The bark is thin, scaly brown, and comes off in small flakes aligned with the stem. The leaves are flat, dark green, 1–4 centimetres ( 1 ⁄ 2 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) long, 2–3 mm ( 3 ⁄ 32 – 1 ⁄ 8 in) broad, and arranged spirally on the stem, but with
1955-561: Is 8–15 mm ( 5 ⁄ 16 – 9 ⁄ 16 in) long and wide and open at the end. The arils mature 6 to 9 months after pollination, and with the seed contained, are eaten by thrushes , waxwings and other birds, which disperse the hard seeds undamaged in their droppings. Maturation of the arils is spread over 2 to 3 months, increasing the chances of successful seed dispersal. The seeds themselves are poisonous and bitter, but are opened and eaten by some bird species, including hawfinches , greenfinches , and great tits . The aril
2070-621: Is a shortening of Iúr Cinn Trá , "yew tree at the head of the strand", which was formerly the most common Irish name for Newry. This relates to an apocryphal story that Saint Patrick planted a yew tree there in the 5th century. The Irish name Cathair an Iúir (City of Newry) appears on some bilingual signs around the city. The area of Ydre in the South Swedish highlands is interpreted to mean "place of yews". Two localities in particular, Idhult and Idebo , appear to be further associated with yews. York ( Old Norse : Jórvík )
2185-519: Is a woodland tree in its native range, and is also grown as an ornamental tree, hedge or topiary. The plant is poisonous, with toxins that can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, and transpiration through the skin. Consuming any part of the tree, excluding the aril, can be deadly and the consumption of even a small amount of the foliage can result in death. The word yew is from Old English īw, ēow , ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw- . Possibly entered Germanic languages through
2300-703: Is derived from the Brittonic name Eburākon ( Latinised variously as Eboracum , Eburacum , or Eburaci ), a combination of *eburos "yew-tree" and a suffix of appurtenance *-āko(n) "belonging to-, place of-" (compare Welsh -og ) meaning "place of the yew trees" ( efrog in Welsh , Old Irish iubrach "grove of yew trees, place with one or more yew trees", iúrach in Irish Gaelic and iùbhrach in Scottish Gaelic);
2415-635: Is known as Teixu l'Iglesia in the Asturian language . It stands 15 m (49 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of 6.82 m (22 ft 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) and a crown diameter of 15 m (49 ft). It was declared a Natural Monument on April 27, 1995, by the Asturian Government and is protected by the Plan of Natural Resources. A unique forest formed by Taxus baccata and European box ( Buxus sempervirens ) lies within
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#17327800275042530-418: Is limited, they support the idea that "the area was thoroughly logged". A large redwood tree remains on Laguna Creek just below the lower Filoli parking lot and on the main entrance road. In 2017, Filoli added The Estate Trail, which gives visitors the opportunity to walk through the outer nature preserve of Filoli. This trail passes through the horse pasture, a field of native plants, the former horse barn, and
2645-662: Is not poisonous; it is gelatinous and very sweet tasting. The male cones are globose, 3–6 mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 – 1 ⁄ 4 in) in diameter, and shed their pollen in early spring. Yews are mostly dioecious , but occasional individuals can be variably monoecious, or change sex with time. T. baccata is native to all countries of Europe (except Iceland), the Caucasus, and beyond from Turkey eastwards to northern Iran. Its range extends south to Morocco and Algeria in North Africa. A few populations are also present in
2760-499: Is on display in the National Museum of Scotland . Yew is the wood of choice for longbow making; the heartwood is always on the inside of the bow with the sapwood on the outside. This makes most efficient use of their properties as heartwood is best in compression whilst sapwood is superior in tension. However, much yew is knotty and twisted, and therefore unsuitable for bowmaking; most trunks do not give good staves and even in
2875-576: Is open to the public. The site is both a California Historical Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Filoli was built between 1915 and 1917 for William Bowers Bourn II , owner of one of California's richest gold mines and president of Spring Valley Water Company , which supplied San Francisco's water, and his wife, Agnes Moody Bourn. They wanted a country estate nearer to their home in San Francisco. The principal designer, San Francisco architect Willis Polk , used
2990-473: Is politics; they talk politics; and they make politics, quite spontaneously. There are no written terms for distinguishing between vast country palaces and comparatively small country houses; the descriptive terms, which can include castle , manor and court , provide no firm clue and are often only used because of a historical connection with the site of such a building. Therefore, for ease or explanation, Britain's country houses can be categorised according to
3105-558: Is reputed to have used Muckross as a model for Filoli. Following the deaths of William and Agnes Bourn in 1936, the estate was sold the following year to Mr. William P. Roth and Mrs. Lurline Matson Roth , heiress to the Matson Navigation Company . The Roth family built Filoli's botanic collections of camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas, notably in the Woodland Garden, and added the serene swimming pool and
3220-580: Is said up to 40 people could stand inside one of the La-Haye-de-Routot yew trees, and the Le Ménil-Ciboult yew is probably the largest, with a girth of 13 m. Yews may grow to become exceptionally large (over 5 m diameter) and may live to be over 2,000 years old. Sometimes monks planted yews in the middle of their cloister , as at Muckross Abbey (Ireland) or abbaye de Jumièges (Normandy). Some ancient yew trees are located at St. Mary
3335-498: Is that yews were planted to discourage farmers and drovers from letting animals wander onto the burial grounds, the poisonous foliage being the disincentive. A further possible reason is that fronds and branches of yew were often used as a substitute for palms on Palm Sunday . King Edward I of England ordered yew trees planted in churchyards to protect the buildings. Some yews existed before their churches, as preachers held services beneath them when churches were unavailable. Due to
3450-597: Is the ITV series Downton Abbey . Taxus baccata#Traditions Taxus baccata is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to Western Europe , Central Europe and Southern Europe , as well as Northwest Africa , northern Iran, and Southwest Asia . It is the tree originally known as yew , though with other related trees becoming known, it may be referred to as common yew , European yew , or in North America English yew . It
3565-640: Is the first of four main rooms; the rectangular pool at its center that houses hardy and tropical water lilies is flanked by twin panels of lawn and two olive trees, within the hedge of clipped Japanese yew. The walled garden consists of a series of enclosures, including the stained glass window design outlined in clipped box . After it was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975, Filoli has been open for public tours. Attractions include self-guided tours, guided tours, and nature hikes. The formal gardens include several areas, including
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3680-492: The Crann Ogham —the variation on the ancient Irish Ogham alphabet which consists of a list of trees—yew is the last in the main list of 20 trees, primarily symbolizing death. There are stories of people who have committed suicide by ingesting the foliage. As the ancient Celts also believed in the transmigration of the soul , there is in some cases a secondary meaning of the eternal soul that survives death to be reborn in
3795-611: The Clacton Spear , it is estimated to be over 400,000 years old. Yew is also associated with Wales and England because of the longbow , an early weapon of war developed in northern Europe, and as the English longbow the basis for a medieval tactical system. The oldest surviving yew longbow was found at Rotten Bottom in Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland. It has been given a calibrated radiocarbon date of 4040 BC to 3640 BC and
3910-553: The Jura Mountains and Alpine foothills . In England it grows best in steep slopes of the chalk downs , forming extensive stands invading the grassland outside the beech woods. In more continental climates of Europe it fares better in mixed forests , of both coniferous and mixed broadleaf-conifer composition. Under its evergreen shade, no other plants can grow. T. baccata prefers steep rocky calcareous slopes. It rarely develops beyond saplings on acid soil when under
4025-538: The Statute of Westminster in 1472, every ship coming to an English port had to bring four bowstaves for every tun . Richard III of England increased this to ten for every tun. This stimulated a vast network of extraction and supply, which formed part of royal monopolies in southern Germany and Austria. In 1483, the price of bowstaves rose from two to eight pounds per hundred, and in 1510 the Venetians would only sell
4140-399: The agricultural depressions of the 1870s , the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifestyle. Increased taxation and the effects of World War I led to the demolition of hundreds of houses ; those that remained had to adapt to survive. While
4255-573: The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (taxol) were later shown to be synthesized easily from extracts of the leaves of European yew, which is a much more renewable source than the bark of the Pacific yew ( Taxus brevifolia ) from which they were initially isolated. This ended a point of conflict in the early 1990s; many environmentalists, including Al Gore , had opposed the destructive harvesting of Pacific yew for paclitaxel cancer treatments. Docetaxel can then be obtained by semi-synthetic conversion from
4370-455: The opening credits of the television series Dynasty ), the extensive press coverage of the Xi-Biden meeting led to a surge of interest among both Chinese and Chinese American tourists. The house is 54,256 square feet (5,040.5 m) in size, and has a total of 56 rooms. This includes a ballroom, a reception room, a dining room, cozier family rooms, and servants quarters. While the home
4485-455: The sacred tree at the Temple at Uppsala was an ancient yew tree. The Christian church commonly found it expedient to take over existing pre-Christian sacred sites for churches. It has also been suggested that yews were planted at religious sites as their long life was suggestive of eternity, or because, being toxic when ingested, they were seen as trees of death. Another suggested explanation
4600-481: The understory , but also forms stands throughout its range, such as in sheltered calcareous sites. T. baccata is extremely shade-tolerant, with the widest temperature range for photosynthesis among European trees, able to photosynthesize in winter after deciduous trees have shed their leaves. It can grow under partial canopies of beech and other deciduous broad-leafed trees, though it only grows into large trees without such shade. In centuries past T. baccata
4715-567: The 1850s, with the English economy booming, new mansions were built in one of the many revivalist architectural styles popular throughout the 19th century. The builders of these new houses were able to take advantage of the political unrest in Europe that gave rise to a large trade in architectural salvage. This new wave of country house building is exemplified by the Rothschild properties in
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4830-419: The 18th century with houses such as Castle Howard , Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall . Such building reached its zenith from the late 17th century until the mid-18th century; these houses were often completely built or rebuilt in their entirety by one eminent architect in the most fashionable architectural style of the day and often have a suite of Baroque state apartments, typically in enfilade , reserved for
4945-474: The 20th century, they slept in proper beds, wore well-made adequate clothes and received three proper meals a day, plus a small wage. In an era when many still died from malnutrition or lack of medicine, the long working hours were a small price to pay. As a result of the aristocratic habit of only marrying within the aristocracy, and whenever possible to a sole heiress, many owners of country houses owned several country mansions, and would visit each according to
5060-579: The 7th century the Old English for 'boar' had become eofor . When the Danish army conquered the city in 866, its name became Jórvík . The Old French and Norman name of Yorks following the Norman Conquest was recorded as Everwic (modern Norman Évèroui ) in works such as Wace's Roman de Rou . Jórvík , meanwhile, gradually reduced to York in the centuries after
5175-485: The Baltic, but at this period bows were being replaced by guns in any case. The late Robert Lundberg, a noted luthier who performed extensive research on historical lute -making methodology, states in his 2002 book Historical Lute Construction that yew was historically a prized wood for lute construction. European legislation establishing use limits and requirements for yew limited supplies available to luthiers, but it
5290-660: The Conquest, moving from the Middle English Yerk in the 14th century through Yourke in the 16th century to Yarke in the 17th century. The form York was first recorded in the 13th century. Many company and place names, such as the Ebor race meeting, refer to the Latinised Brittonic, Roman name. The Archbishop of York uses Ebor as his surname in his signature. In
5405-619: The San Mateo Creek watershed hosted runs of anadromous salmonids , including coho salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch ) and steelhead trout (coastal rainbow trout) ( Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus ) coming up from the Bay. In 1877, Laguna Grande, a natural lake on Laguna Creek, was dammed with an earthen causeway (now crossed by Highway 92 ) blocking further salmonid migration up into Laguna Creek and its tributaries on Filoli. Stream resident rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ), continue to run up
5520-657: The Virgin Church, Overton-on-Dee in Wales. In the Septuagint rendering of the Book of Nahum , 1:10, Nineveh and other deemed enemies of the biblical God are foretold to "be laid bare even to its foundation, and…devoured as a twisted yew." In Asturian tradition and culture, the yew tree was considered to be linked with the land, people, ancestors, and ancient religion. It was tradition on All Saints' Day to bring
5635-492: The Wedding Place, named for Berenice Roth's wedding location in 1941. Lurline and Berenice both had their wedding receptions at Filoli, but Berenice's wedding is the only one that has ever taken place at Filoli when it was a private home. The largest gardens are working gardens for the production of cut flowers for the mansion and for the growing of some vegetables. Filoli Gentlemen's Orchard was started by Bourn family in
5750-436: The ability of their branches to root and sprout anew after touching the ground, yews became symbols of death, rebirth, and therefore immortality. In interpretations of Norse cosmology , the tree Yggdrasil has traditionally been interpreted as a giant ash tree . Some scholars now believe errors were made in past interpretations of the ancient writings, and that the tree is most likely a European yew ( Taxus baccata ). In
5865-487: The age of yews is often overestimated. Ten yews in Britain are believed to predate the 10th century. The potential age of yews is impossible to determine accurately and is subject to much dispute. There is rarely any wood as old as the entire tree, while the boughs themselves often become hollow with age, making ring counts impossible. Evidence based on growth rates and archaeological work of surrounding structures suggests
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#17327800275045980-565: The ancient Celtic world, the yew tree ( *eburos ) had extraordinary importance; a passage by Caesar narrates that Cativolcus , chief of the Eburones , poisoned himself with yew rather than submit to Rome ( Gallic Wars 6: 31). Similarly, Florus notes that when the Cantabrians were under siege by the legate Gaius Furnius in 22 BC, most of them took their lives either by sword, fire, or a poison extracted ex arboribus taxeis , that is, from
6095-762: The archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. The limit of its northern Scandinavian distribution is its sensitivity to frost, with global warming predicted to allow its spread inland. It has been introduced elsewhere, including the United States. Aside from its natural habitat, it is also common to find English Yew in gardens because it is very tolerant to pruning, and in cemeteries, as it symbolizes death. T. baccata ' s richest central European populations are in Swiss yew-beech woodlands, on cool, steep marl slopes up to 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) in elevation in
6210-467: The best-known examples of the showy prodigy house , often built with the intention of attracting the monarch to visit. By the reign of Charles I , Inigo Jones and his form of Palladianism had changed the face of English domestic architecture completely, with the use of turrets and towers as an architectural reference to the earlier castles and fortified houses completely disappearing. The Palladian style, in various forms, interrupted briefly by baroque ,
6325-435: The canopy and allowed wind to destroy neighbouring trees. In 1568, despite a request from Saxony , no royal monopoly was granted because there was no yew to cut, and the next year Bavaria and Austria similarly failed to produce enough yew to justify a royal monopoly. Forestry records in this area in the 17th century do not mention yew, and it seems that no mature trees were to be had. The English tried to obtain supplies from
6440-524: The circumstances of their creation. The great houses are the largest of the country houses; in truth palaces, built by the country's most powerful – these were designed to display their owners' power or ambitions to power. Really large unfortified or barely fortified houses began to take over from the traditional castles of the crown and magnates during the Tudor period, with vast houses such as Hampton Court Palace and Burghley House , and continued until
6555-587: The city itself is called Eabhrach (Irish) and Eabhraig (Scottish Gaelic), from the Latin Eboracum ); or alternatively, "the settlement of (a man named) Eburos " (a Celtic personal name is mentioned in different documents as Eβουρος , Eburus , and Eburius and, when combined with the Celtic possessive suffix * -āko(n) , could be used to denote his property). The 12th‑century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth , in his account of
6670-677: The city of Sochi , in the Western Caucasus . The oldest Irish Yew ( Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata'), the Florence Court Yew , still stands in the grounds of the Florence Court estate in County Fermanagh , Northern Ireland . The Irish Yew has become ubiquitous in cemeteries across the world, and it is believed that all known examples are from cuttings from this tree. The entire plant is poisonous, with
6785-625: The country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who dominated rural Britain until the Reform Act 1832 . Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses . With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until
6900-523: The country saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses. Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries saw many former ecclesiastical properties granted to the King's favourites, who then converted them into private country houses. Woburn Abbey , Forde Abbey and many other mansions with abbey or priory in their name became private houses during this period. Other terms used in
7015-543: The creeks of Filoli from the reservoir to spawn. San Mateo County historian Frank Stanger cited sizeable groves of redwoods ( Sequoia sempervirens ) in the Laguna Creek watershed. In the area around Filoli he described two historic lumber mills. The historic "Smith Mill" on Fault Creek was destroyed by fire in 1854. Pinckney's mill in "the largest gulch", which would be Spring Creek, was built in 1855 and later purchased by S. L. Mastic. Although information on these mills
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#17327800275047130-428: The design of the wing around the next corner. These varying "improvements", often criticised at the time, today are the qualities that make English country houses unique. Wealthy and influential people, often bored with their formal duties, go to the country in order to get out of London, the ugliest and most uncomfortable city in the world; they invented the long week-end to stay away as long as possible. Their métier
7245-427: The early 1970s, hundreds of country houses were demolished . Houses that survived destruction are now mostly Grade I or II listed as buildings of historic interest with restrictions on restoration and re-creation work. However such work is usually very expensive. Several houses have been restored, some over many years. For example at Copped Hall where the restoration started in 1995 continues to this day. Although
7360-619: The early 20th century, however the Roth family did not maintain the orchard and by the 1970s it was in poor condition. In 1997, the California Rare Fruit Growers began donating rare plants to restore the orchard. Many of the current 650+ trees in the orchard are lost varieties of fruit and include: 275 varieties of apple trees, 59 pear varieties, 42 peach varieties, 6 medlar , and many more. Laguna Creek , locally known as "Orchard Creek", flows northwest from its origin on
7475-591: The estate from cuttings. Filoli is an outstanding example of the Anglo-American gardening style reintroducing Italian formality, that was pioneered at the end of the nineteenth century by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll in British gardens and exemplified in the U.S. by designs of Charles A. Platt and Beatrix Farrand . The gardens extend southeast of the house running up an easy slope. The sunken garden
7590-602: The estate: the Friends Library Collection and the Sterling Library Collection. The Friends Library is a circulation library that holds 1,500 books, 125 videos, lectures, or oral histories, and several copies of movies filmed on the estate. The Sterling Library is a research library with 1,800 books and 40 journals. Both libraries are only open to Filoli members or to researchers. The 16 acres (6.5 ha) of gardens are structured as
7705-404: The exception of the aril (the red flesh of the “berry” covering the seed). Yews contain numerous toxic compounds, including "at least ten alkaloids, nitriles ( cyanogenic glycoside esters), ephedrine ", and their essential oil , but the most important toxins are taxine alkaloids , cardiotoxic chemical compounds which act via calcium and sodium channel antagonism. If any leaves or seeds of
7820-512: The first meeting on U.S. soil in several years between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 2023 APEC summit in San Francisco. The two world leaders met at Filoli on November 15, 2023, during President Xi's visit to California. Although Filoli had been popular for many years with Asian tourists visiting the San Francisco Bay Area (due to its gardens and its prominent appearance in
7935-533: The grounds are a row of immense Italian Stone Pines and scattered specimen native Coast Live Oaks over 250 years in age, the latter of which are the backdrop for Warren Beatty 's outdoor scenes in Heaven Can Wait . Filoli was featured in Bob Vila 's A&E Network production Guide to Historic Homes of America as well as in a November 1996 segment of A&E's America's Castles: Garden Estates ,
8050-479: The home counties and Bletchley Park (rebuilt in several styles, and famous for its code-breaking role in World War II). The slow decline of the English country house coincided with the rise not just of taxation, but also of modern industry, along with the agricultural depression of the 1870s. By 1880, this had led some owners into financial shortfalls as they tried to balance maintenance of their estates with
8165-435: The household. These houses were always an alternative residence to a London house. During the 18th and 19th centuries, for the highest echelons of English society, the country house served as a place for relaxing, hunting and running the country with one's equals at the end of the week, with some houses having their own theatre where performances were staged. The country house, however, was not just an oasis of pleasure for
8280-556: The immediately preceding war then in World War I, were now paying far higher rates of tax, and agricultural incomes had dropped. Thus, the solution for many was to hold contents auctions and then demolish the house and sell its stone, fireplaces , and panelling . This is what happened to many of Britain's finest houses. Despite this slow decline, so necessary was the country house for entertaining and prestige that in 1917 Viscount Lee of Fareham donated his country house Chequers to
8395-438: The income they provided. Some relied on funds from secondary sources such as banking and trade while others, like the severely impoverished Duke of Marlborough , sought to marry American heiresses to save their country houses and lifestyles. The ultimate demise began immediately following World War I . The members of the huge staff required to maintain large houses had either left to fight and never returned, departed to work in
8510-491: The landscape, while some of the great houses such as Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall were built as "power houses" to dominate the landscape, and were most certainly intended to be "stately" and impressive. In his book Historic Houses: Conversations in Stately Homes , the author and journalist Robert Harling documents nineteen "stately homes"; these range in size from the vast Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard to
8625-513: The largest recorded trunk girths in Britain, reportedly 16-17m in the 18th century, and experts estimate it to be 5,000 years old. The Llangernyw Yew in Clwyd , Wales, can be found at another early saint site and is about 4000–5000 years old according to an investigation led by David Bellamy, who also carbon-dated a yew tree in Tisbury at around 4000 years old. A certificate and memorial board by
8740-586: The latter being shown continuously at the visitor center. The house also served as the Stanhope residence in the 1997 film George of the Jungle , and was featured in The Game in the same year. Country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house . This allowed them to spend time in
8855-544: The latter two are ducal palaces, Montacute, although built by a Master of the Rolls to Queen Elizabeth I, was occupied for the next 400 years by his descendants, who were gentry without a London townhouse , rather than aristocracy. They finally ran out of funds in the early 20th century. However, the vast majority of English country houses, often owned at different times by gentlemen and peers , are an evolution of one or more styles with facades and wings in different styles in
8970-459: The leaf bases twisted to align the leaves in two flat rows on either side of the stem, except on erect leading shoots where the spiral arrangement is more obvious. The leaves are poisonous. The seed cones are modified, each cone containing a single seed, which is 4–7 mm ( 3 ⁄ 16 – 1 ⁄ 4 in) long, and partly surrounded by a fleshy scale which develops into a soft, bright red berry-like structure called an aril . The aril
9085-655: The minuscule Ebberston Hall , and in architecture from the Jacobean Renaissance of Hatfield House to the eccentricities of Sezincote . The book's collection of stately homes also includes George IV's Brighton town palace, the Royal Pavilion . The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years. Before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners as feudal lords , de facto overlords of their manors . The Tudor period of stability in
9200-416: The most eminent guests, the entertainment of whom was of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining the power of the owner. The common denominator of this category of English country houses is that they were designed to be lived in with a certain degree of ceremony and pomp. It was not unusual for the family to have a small suite of rooms for withdrawing in privacy away from the multitude that lived in
9315-399: The munitions factories, or filled the void left by the fighting men in other workplaces. Of those who returned after the war, many left the countryside for better-paid jobs in towns. The final blow for many country houses came following World War II ; having been requisitioned during the war, they were returned to the owners in poor repair. Many estate owners, having lost their heirs, if not in
9430-468: The names of houses to describe their origin or importance include palace , castle , court , hall , mansion , park , house , manor , and place . It was during the second half of the reign of Elizabeth I , and under her successor, James I , that the first architect-designed mansions, thought of today as epitomising the English country house, began to make their appearance. Burghley House , Longleat House , and Hatfield House are among
9545-454: The nation for the use of a prime minister who might not possess one of his or her own. Chequers still fulfills that need today as do both Chevening House and Dorneywood , donated for sole use of high-ranking ministers of the Crown. Today, many country houses have become hotels, schools, hospitals and museums, while others have survived as conserved ruins, but from the early 20th century until
9660-573: The notable exception of French ( if ), kept a version of the Latin word taxus (Italian tasso , Corsican tassu , Occitan teis , Catalan teix , Gasconic tech , Spanish tejo , Asturian texu , Portuguese teixo , Galician teixo and Romanian tisă ) from the same root as toxic . In Slavic languages, the same root is preserved: Polish cis , Ukrainian, Slovakian and Russian tis ( тис ), Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian-Montenegrin tisa / тиса , tis , Slovenian tisa . Albanian borrowed it as tis . In Iran ,
9775-666: The oldest yews, such as the Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, Scotland, may be in the range of 2,000 years, placing them among the oldest plants in Europe. One characteristic contributing to yews' longevity is that, unlike most other trees, they are able to split under the weight of advanced growth without succumbing to disease in the fracture. Another is their ability to give rise to new epicormic and basal shoots from cut surfaces and low on their trunks, even in old age. The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, Scotland, has one of
9890-443: The original color schemes was Isabella Worn ; she supervised the garden's maintenance for 35 years. Filoli served as one of the Bourns' residences from 1917 to 1936. The name of the estate is an acronym formed by combining the first two letters from the key words of William Bourn's credo: " Fi ght for a just cause; Lo ve your fellow man; Li ve a good life." Bourn's Spring Valley Water Company owned Crystal Springs Reservoir and
10005-468: The owner of a "power house" or a small manor, the inhabitants of the English country house have become collectively referred to as the ruling class, because this is exactly what they did in varying degrees, whether by having high political influence and power in national government, or in the day-to-day running of their own localities or "county" in such offices as lord/deputy lieutenant , magistrates , or occasionally even clergy. The Country house mystery
10120-529: The owner's twelve children. Canons Ashby , home to poet John Dryden 's family, is another example of architectural evolution: a medieval farmhouse enlarged in the Tudor era around a courtyard, given grandiose plaster ceilings in the Stuart period , and then having Georgian façades added in the 18th century. The whole is a glorious mismatch of styles and fashions that seamlessly blend together. These could be called
10235-512: The ownership or management of some houses has been transferred to a private trust , most notably at Chatsworth , other houses have transferred art works and furnishings under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme to ownership by various national or local museums, but retained for display in the building. This enables the former owners to offset tax, the payment of which would otherwise have necessitated
10350-477: The plant all year, with maximal concentrations appearing during the winter. Dried yew plant material retains its toxicity for several months and even increases its toxicity as the water is removed. Fallen leaves should therefore also be considered toxic. Poisoning usually occurs when leaves of yew trees are eaten, but in at least one case a victim inhaled sawdust from a yew tree. Male yews are extremely allergenic, blooming and releasing abundant amounts of pollen in
10465-513: The plant are ingested, urgent medical attention is recommended as well as observation for at least 6 hours after the point of ingestion. The European yew is one of the most toxic species in the genus, along with the Japanese yew , T. cuspidata . Yew poisonings are relatively common in both domestic and wild animals which consume the plant accidentally, resulting in "countless fatalities in livestock". Taxines are also absorbed efficiently via
10580-572: The precursors. Wood from the yew is classified as a closed-pore softwood , similar to cedar and pine. Easy to work, yew is among the hardest of the softwoods, yet it possesses a remarkable elasticity, making it ideal for products that require springiness, such as bows. The wood is esteemed for cabinetry and tool handles. The hard, slow-growing wood also finds use in gates, furniture, parquet floors , and paneling . Its typical burls and contorted growth, with intricate multicolored patterns, make it attractive for carving and woodturning , but also make
10695-493: The prehistoric kings of Britain, Historia Regum Britanniae , suggests the name derives from that of a pre-Roman city founded by the legendary king Ebraucus . The name Eboracum became the Anglian Eoforwic in the 7th century: a compound of Eofor- , from the old name, and -wic "a village", probably by conflation of the element Ebor- with a Germanic root * eburaz ('boar'); by
10810-462: The private sale of the art works. For example, tapestries and furniture at Houghton Hall are now owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum . In addition, increasing numbers of country houses hold licences for weddings and civil ceremonies . Another source of income is to use the house as a venue for parties, a film location or a corporate entertainment venue. While many country houses are open to
10925-472: The public and derive income through that means, they remain homes, in some cases inhabited by the descendants of their original owners. The lifestyles of those living and working in a country house in the early 20th century were recreated in a BBC television programme, The Edwardian Country House , filmed at Manderston House in Scotland. Another television programme which features life in country houses
11040-417: The screened-in teahouse. In 1975, Mrs. Roth donated the estate in its entirety to the National Trust for Historic Preservation , with an endowment that helps support annual operating expenses. The estate operates as Filoli Center, a private, non-profit organization with its own Board of Governors, staff, and volunteers. As of 2022, Filoli was drawing about 400,000 visitors per year. In 2023, Filoli hosted
11155-519: The season: Grouse shooting in Scotland , pheasant shooting and fox hunting in England. The Earl of Rosebery , for instance, had Dalmeny House in Scotland, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, and another house near Epsom just for the racing season. For many, this way of life, which began a steady decline in 1914, continued well into the 20th century, and for a few continues to this day. In
11270-444: The second category of Britain's country houses are those that belonged to the squirearchy or landed gentry . These tend either to have evolved from medieval hall houses, with rooms added as required, or were purpose-built by relatively unknown local architects. Smaller, and far greater in number than the "power houses", these were still the epicentre of their own estate, but were often the only residence of their owner. However, whether
11385-476: The series but were subsequently replicated on sound stages at the Fox Studios, Century City. However the entire mansion served as the setting for the 2006 CBS Television special Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar in which cast members reunited to discuss their memories of the series. It was the first time many of the cast members had been to the actual estate. Among the many striking mature trees on
11500-416: The skin. Taxus species should thus be handled with care and preferably with gloves. "The lethal dose for an adult is reported to be 50 g of yew needles. Patients who ingest a lethal dose frequently die due to cardiogenic shock , in spite of resuscitation efforts." There are currently no known antidotes for yew poisoning, but drugs such as atropine have been used to treat the symptoms. Taxine remains in
11615-479: The spring, with an OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10. Completely female yews have an OPALS rating of 1, the lowest possible, trapping pollen while producing none. The pollen, like most species', easily passes through window screens. While yew pollen does not contain sufficient taxine alkaloids to cause poisoning, its allergenic potential has been implicated in adverse reactions to paclitaxel treatment. Words and Morphemes for "yew tree" have resulted in
11730-659: The surrounding area. Bourn called the Crystal Springs Reservoirs "Spring Valley Lakes" for his company. The original Spring Valley was between Mason and Taylor Streets, and Washington and Broadway Streets in San Francisco , where the water company started. When the company went south for more water, the Spring Valley name was carried south too. Bourn also owned Muckross House in Ireland and
11845-851: The tree confirm the tree's age estimate. Other well known yews include the Ankerwycke Yew , the Balderschwang Yew , the Caesarsboom , the Florence Court Yew , and the Borrowdale Fraternal Four, of which poet William Wordsworth wrote. The Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve in West Sussex has one of Europe's largest yew woodlands. The oldest specimen in Spain is located in Bermiego , Asturias . It
11960-418: The tree is known as sorkhdār ( Persian : سرخدار , literally "the red tree"). Common yew was one of the many species first described by Linnaeus . It is one of around 30 conifer species in seven genera in the family Taxaceae , which is placed in the order Pinales . Yews are small to medium-sized evergreen trees, growing 10–20 m (35–65 ft) (exceptionally up to 28 m or 92 ft) tall, with
12075-493: The true English country house. Wilton House , one of England's grandest houses, is in a remarkably similar vein; although, while the Drydens, mere squires, at Canons Ashby employed a local architect, at Wilton the mighty Earls of Pembroke employed the finest architects of the day: first Holbein , 150 years later Inigo Jones, and then Wyatt followed by Chambers. Each employed a different style of architecture, seemingly unaware of
12190-629: The west side of Cañada Road, Laguna Creek is joined on the left (heading downstream) by the South Fork Laguna Creek, then after crossing under the main entrance road to Filoli it is joined by locally named Fault Creek, then Spring Creek (possibly named by Bourn for his Spring Valley Water Company), then on the right by an unnamed creek, then by waters from the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct and Pulgas Water Temple just before entering Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir. Historically,
12305-650: The western slope of Edgewood County Park to Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir where its waters eventually join San Mateo Creek , and descend to San Francisco Bay . In November 1769, Laguna Creek was the route of the Portolà expedition as they descended from their discovery of San Francisco Bay on Sweeney Ridge down San Andreas Creek to Laguna Creek and then southeast down the San Francisquito Creek watershed to El Palo Alto . After crossing to
12420-454: The wood unsuited for construction. It is good firewood and is sometimes burnt as incense. Due to all parts of the yew and its volatile oils being poisonous and cardiotoxic, a mask should be worn if one comes in contact with sawdust from the wood. One of the world's oldest surviving wooden artifacts is a Clactonian yew spear head, found in 1911 at Clacton-on-Sea , in Essex , UK. Known as
12535-558: The yew tree (2: 33, 50–51). In a similar way, Orosius notes that when the Astures were besieged at Mons Medullius , they preferred to die by their own swords or by yew poison rather than surrender (6, 21, 1). The yew is traditionally and regularly found in churchyards in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern France (particularly Normandy ). Some examples can be found in La Haye-de-Routot or La Lande-Patry . It
12650-520: Was a popular genre of English detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s; set in the residence of the gentry and often involving a murder in a country house temporarily isolated by a snowstorm or similar with the suspects all at a weekend house party. Following the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, a third category of country houses was built as newly rich industrialists and bankers were eager to display their wealth and taste. By
12765-558: Was apparently as prized among medieval, renaissance, and baroque lute builders as Brazilian rosewood is among contemporary guitar-makers for its quality of sound and beauty. Today European yew is widely used in landscaping and ornamental horticulture. Due to its dense, dark green, mature foliage, and its tolerance of even very severe pruning, it is used especially for formal hedges and topiary . Its relatively slow growth rate means that in such situations it needs to be clipped only once per year (in late summer). European yew will tolerate
12880-405: Was empty when it reached the National Trust, much of the original furniture and art has been donated, to help recreate the original appearance of the home. This is an ongoing effort; in 2022 the gentleman's lounge was restructured to include new period-typical additions to the room and add a re-creation of the original wallpaper. Filoli houses two libraries with resources related to the families and
12995-444: Was exterminated from many woodlands as a poisonous hazard to the cattle and horses that often grazed in the woods . Rabbits and deer however have a level of immunity to the poisonous alkaloids, and the seeds are dispersed by birds, with thrushes greatly enjoying the fruit. It also regenerates readily from stumps and roots, even when ancient and hollow. Taxus baccata can reach 400 to 600 years of age. Some specimens live longer but
13110-517: Was so robust that it depleted the stocks of good-quality, mature yew over a vast area. The first documented import of yew bowstaves to England was in 1294. In 1423 the Polish king commanded protection of yews in order to cut exports, facing nearly complete destruction of local yew stock. In 1470 compulsory archery practice was renewed, and hazel , ash , and laburnum were specifically allowed for practice bows. Supplies still proved insufficient, until by
13225-422: Was to predominate until the second half of the 18th century when, influenced by ancient Greek styles, it gradually evolved into the neoclassicism championed by such architects as Robert Adam . Some of the best known of England's country houses were the work of only one architect/designer, built in a relatively short, particular time: Montacute House , Chatsworth House , and Blenheim Palace are examples. While
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