2005 Trip to San Fransisco - Filoli Center
Tucked away in the hills of coastal California, almost exactly equidistant between San Jose and San Francisco, lies a delight for the eye and the soul: Filoli. Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn II established Filoli as a private residence in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. William P. Roth owned the property until 1975, and in 1976, Filoli was opened to the public. With the combined efforts of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (owner of the property) and Filoli Center (managers of the property), Filoli has built a reputation among public gardens for maintaining high standards of horticulture as well as being an excellent site for gardener training. The Fellows had the privilege of meeting with Ms. Lucy Tolmach, Director of Horticulture, and other staff members at Filoli to discuss several important aspects of the Garden today, including: staff, volunteers, students, the governing board, creative fundraising, and future dreams.
Boasting only thirty staff members for 654 acres of pristine property, Filoli has been left in capable hands. We specifically focused our meetings on the horticulture staff that comprises almost half of the institution's employees. The Director of Horticulture oversees the Garden Managers for the Greenhouse and Gardens. The greenhouse has three staff members and the Gardens utilize seven additional staff members. The horticulture staff cares for sixteen acres of formal garden space as well as ten acres of fruit orchards. The fruit can be purchased in Filoli's café offering visitors a true taste of the Gardens. Other staff departments include Administration, Visitor Services, Education, Maintenance and the Garden Shop. The staff faces many challenges, including the maintenance of historically high standards and sharing professional expertise with the volunteers, apprentices, and interns.
Filoli would not be Filoli without its 1200 volunteers. These include docents, café workers, librarians, tour leaders, gift shop attendants, floral designers and gardeners, just to name a few positions. The volunteer group at Filoli is indeed a strong force in the life of Filoli. Although there has never been a formal study to document the reasons to volunteer, some educated guesses were presented during the Fellows' meeting. Perhaps one incentive is the gift of surplus plants quite frequently given to volunteers. Another enticement may be the lavish volunteer appreciation event held in the fall, which includes a staff-prepared barbeque and an opportunity to swim in the pool. The Fellows found it surprising that people also volunteer at Filoli to meet other single people with similar interests. Regardless of the volunteers' motivations, the fact is that they do come, they work, and they keep coming in strong numbers. Two of the Fellows met a volunteer who had been giving his time in some form or another since 1977. An interesting addition to this fascinating phenomenon of volunteer commitment is that all volunteers must be members of the organization. Volunteers manage themselves and have offices on site, as there is no paid volunteer coordinator. Staff members from specific departments assist with this coordination effort; Filoli benefits from this unique arrangement of motivated people.
In addition to working with volunteers, the staff members administer the Intern and Apprenticeship Programs at Filoli. Students come to the Garden to work in all areas of the grounds; students may intern for ten weeks or apprentice for six months. The intent of the Program is to pass down professional gardening skills to horticulture students; it is a well-respected program. Interns and apprentices turn in detailed journals of their experiences, while apprentices also complete additional individual projects. Students are paid eight dollars per hour, and are provided with housing in the local community contingent upon eight hours of garden labor at the assigned home. This successful program strives to continue the high historic standards of gardening excellence.
The Governing Board endorses Filoli's commitment to excellence. This Board is composed mostly of members and friends of the Roth family. The Board formed a Planning Committee in 2004 and engaged staff in a strategic planning process; the goal was to ensure that the organization would maintain a proper internal perspective and future outlook. The current mission statement evolved during this process: "Filoli is dedicated to the preservation, interpretation and stewardship of the cultural traditions and natural history of this country estate for public education and enjoyment." In order to achieve this goal, certain guiding principles were outlined: preservation, resource for the community, serenity, fiscal responsibility, volunteerism, excellence and integrity, learning and diversity. These, along with the mission statement, are considered in all decisions made by Board and staff. Filoli outlined its future vision and highlighted long-range goals. Filoli aspires to develop and implement plans to incorporate its history into visitor education, improve access to the gardens, address wide-ranging facilities and infrastructure concerns, establish a staff-supported development program, and initiate a human resources management position. Without the Board's assistance and dedication to Filoli, the strategic plan would not have been possible.
Although Filoli's Board is interested in the future of the gardens, fundraising is not its main objective. The staff has, therefore, become extremely creative in procuring money. The single largest money-maker for Filoli is the Christmas event held the week after Thanksgiving, bringing in almost $900,000. This event is kicked-off Friday and Saturday nights with a lovely catered dinner in the café followed by dancing the night away in the lavish ballroom. The following week's daily events include ladies' lunches and carols. The week culminates with a children's day complete with Santa passing out gifts, attended by 600 people. Another creative fundraising strategy has been opening up the property for the use by television and film-making industry for $10,000 per day. Some famous projects filmed on-site include the soap opera Dynasty, and the films RENT (2005), The Wedding Planner (2000), Stigmata (1998), What Dreams May Come (1997), George of the Jungle (1996), The Game (1996), Joy Luck Club (1995) and Heaven Can Wait (1977). Although these endeavors have been lucrative for the organization, Filoli is hoping to increase its endowments to ensure a more reliable source of income.
As Filoli looks to the future, it will have to face several struggles including the maintenance of its reputation and feeling of yester-year, while simultaneously remaining fresh enough for people to commute from its two biggest audience bases, San Jose and San Francisco. The 36,000 square foot home and expansive gardens are a delight to experience and unique in this country and Filoli will hopefully overcome its challenges and continue to shine. As for the present, the beautiful gardens beckon even the most skeptical of visitors with their song of redemption. Fight, Love, Life...FILOLI.
