Filoli is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've visited. The gardens are immaculately…read moremaintained, with stunning seasonal flowers, perfectly designed landscapes, and countless picturesque spots at every turn. The staff and volunteers are warm, welcoming, and incredibly knowledgeable, which adds so much to the experience. You can truly feel the care and pride that goes into maintaining the property. Whether you're going for a relaxing walk, taking photos, or just looking to unwind, Filoli is a must-visit. It's a hidden gem that never disappoints.

Came for Mother's Day…read more Beautiful weather with gorgeous blooms! Bring a picnic blanket to enjoy the afternoon. They have wonderful popsicle flavors at the bars and some food trucks. $49/adult now

Have some time & the itch to visit a museum? Head over to the Stanford campus to check out this…read morebeautiful center! * Location: Car accessible (free museum parking), or 20 min walk from Palo Alto Caltrain station. * Admission: Free! Walk-in & say hello to the front desk staff to get your center map via QR code and recommendations. * Exterior & interior architecture are beautiful in their own right, Rodin sculpture garden makes it even better. * Center is relatively compact but contains great range of collections - antiquities from around the world, 16th-18th century European art, modern 21st century, & more. Roaming the many halls is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon! Tip: Checkout their website for an overview of temporary exhibits and guest speakers.

This is a great free art museum on the Stanford Campus. We visited on a Saturday so there was ample…read morefree parking in the lots right in front of the building. It's a beautiful building and well laid out, it took us maybe an hour and a half to two hours to see most of the exhibits. They have a great collection of different eras and regions of art. Many artists I've heard of thought not their most famous paintings. I really enjoyed the modern gallery too. The highlight for me was the extensive collection of Rodin sculptures including details on how he constructed the spectacular "Gates of Hell" that is replicated outdoors. I visited the Rodin museum in Paris a long time ago and this collection, while small, was still really good and informative. I also love a good Richard Serra steel sculpture and there is one outdoors on the other side of the museum from the Rodin garden.

1 of only 3 Public Frank Lloyd Wright sites in CA and they only allow visitors twice a year so…read morecount yourself an architecture nerd and a lucky-one if you do get a spot on the tour. Older review from before Covid, you can email hannahouse@stanford.edu for next tour dates. You can take as many pictures as you want outside but no pictures of the interior so I added some I found online. This is what makes this design unique compared to other FLW works: -Hexagons/honeycomb, back in 1936 imagine the precision that had to be done by hand to make the huge structure a honeycomb as well as small details like the stone tiles. One cut slightly wrong would have snowballed into huge misalignments. -First FLW work in non-rectangular structures -First FLW work in the Bay Area It's not as epic and grand as Fallingwater or as contemplative as Taliesin West and it is smaller than some of the US public FLW sites but it's only 1 of 3 in Cali you can see the interior of and you get a more complete picture if you can see inside/out and hear the docents anecdotes about the design and house.

Hanna House is one of the few northern California buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Located…read morein a residential neighborhood within the boundaries of the sprawling Stanford University campus, the home is currently occupied by a private party and is not open to the public. However, it once served as the official residence for the Provost where the university regularly held alumni and fundraising events and one might reasonably assume the home may someday return to it's previous semi-public stature. Although visitors are discouraged from trespassing on the property, the house has been magnificently maintained and is visible from the street below. A relatively new arrangement with the Stanford Historical Society will enable the public to tour the house twice each year. Interested parties should contact hannahouse@stanford.edu to receive information about future tour dates and booking arrangements.

This is beautiful little spot on Stanford Campus. A true gem of cacti of all kinds. I've been here…read moreabout 3-4xs times now, and it's always lovely to just walk around. It's definitely a beautiful greenery backdrop for photos as I did a photoshoot for a client here a few months ago. We took a bunch of photos here, and then we walked over to the Quad for an outfit change and a change of scenery. We saw *the* Robert Downey Jr. at the Quad that day! That was awesome! :D I usually come here on a Saturday or Sunday and just park at the medical clinic, which is basically right next to this spot.

This review is long overdue from 2020; I for visited this spot in 2016 or so and loved it so I…read morebrought my husband here during the Covid shut down in 2020 and we took a nice walk, it was awesome to check it out, explore the vacations cacti and spend some time in nature. Parking can be difficult. Overall a great and well kept garden e

This place is a hidden gem in Palo Alto, in an industrial area surrounded by factories. It is a…read moremuseum of the work of Tony Foster, an artist from UK who paints beautiful watercolor landscapes. It's free, and a nice place to visit for an hour or so ... highly recommended.

We tried Story Time with Anna on Sunday. It was an hour experience that our grandson enjoyed. We…read moresigned up ahead of time and street parking was easy. There was also a sign that there is additional parking behind the museum. After checking in there was a craft/art activity with stickers and tempera paint sticks. Low mess :). Adjacent was a play area with colored scarves, a pretend campfire, felt board for the children to explore, and books. Before entering the museum area Anna gave an introductory talk describing what to expect. She made it interactive which was very nice. They also did a song to get their wiggles out. She then guided the group through the museum to the carpeted area with cushions for the kiddos. Ana talked about and asked questions about the art on the walls. She read Under the Same Sky to the children and made this an interactive experience also. It was just the right length of time, thirty minutes. This was just right for our 18 month old grandson.

The Lathrop house sits in the middle of San Mateo's governmental center. Originally built in 1862,…read moreit has been moved twice, became a house of ill repute, was converted to a boarding house in WWII, and now has been restored to its condition following the residence of the first three owners. The house is now in very good condition, is being elegantly decorated for the holidays, and offers excellent docent-led tours that reveal the wonderful charm of this vintage house. Hours are limited. Plan ahead. It is definitely worth it if you are at all a history buff.

The house move in November is now May and just happened and is resting above the new foundation! I…read moretook probably 200 pictures, some of them are in here showing the move and the hydraulic system to save this beautiful historic 1863 Steamboat Gothic style house. it is nestled up against the SAN mateo history museum across the street from its former location on Hamilton Street. Once it is lowered onto the new foundation in about a week it will reopen again after about 120 days to make sure that everything is secure and safe. They also need to reattach the stairs and add a handicapped ramp. It had quite a history and it's time which you can read a lot online. One of the most prominent owners was Sheriff Joel Mansfield who was the sheriff of Redwood City for quite some time and was loved by many and buried in the Union cemetery nearby with his wife Mary. Hopefully this new location will bring more visitors and hopefully more donations to help preserve this wonderful mansion.

Remarkable sculpture in Stanford Memorial Court…read more I stopped by during a tour of the campus earlier this week, and stopped by again late in the evening to take pictures without being photo bombed! The sculpture depicts the heroic Burghers of Calais, and is hauntingly beautiful, depicting courage during moments of adversity and impending death. Worth a visit if you're on campus.

No need to grab your passport and head to Paris or fly to Philly for either's Rodin Museum when…read morethere's this fantastic Rodin Sculpture Garden free and at your footsteps in Palo Alto! Located adjacent to the Cantor Center's West Entrance, it features one of Auguste Rodin's "The Gates of Hell" bronze castings, which incorporates some of the characters/scenes from Dante's Inferno. It's worth it to examine the many groupings in this bronze because at the foot of this presentation of The Gates of Hell you'll find larger independent free-standing versions, such as The Three Shades (Le Trois Ombres). Note, Rodin's iconic The Thinker (aka Le Penseur or The Poet) originated as part of The Gates of Hell, positioned above the door panel. A spectacular independent, large version of The Thinker, however, is not in the Sculpture Garden but immediately inside the West Wing rotunda entrance. Additionally, there's an ongoing exhibit, "Rodin: The Shock of the Modern Body," also great to visit indoors. (The museum is also free.)

Admission to this museum that features American modern and contemporary art is free!…read more It's pretty sizable with two floors and several interesting pieces. If you're there on a weekend look out for the free pubic in-person tours on Saturdays and Sundays at 12:30pm and 2:30pm. We took one and it was better than wandering around the exhibits ourselves. Worth a stop if you're visiting the Stanford campus.

Disclaimer: I give any free museum five stars. Well, it will cost you your zip code. I just gave…read morethem 58008, hoping they'd realize later what it spells upside down. This is one of the world's most outstanding private assemblies of postwar American art, gifted by Bay Area collectors Harry W. "Hunk" and Mary Margaret "Moo" Anderson and their daughter Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, who looks more like Moo but acts like Hunk. The museum, which opened in 2014, houses 121 paintings and sculptures and is known for its focus on movements like Abstract Expressionism, Color Field Painting, and Pop Art. The collection is celebrated for featuring canonical works by some of the 20th century's most significant American artists. Key figures and their works include: Jackson Pollock: The monumental drip painting "Lucifer," considered by many to be the outstanding drip painting still in private hands before it was gifted to Stanford. Mark Rothko: The signature color-field work, "Pink and White over Red." Clyfford Still: A large, imposing piece called "1957-J No. 1 (PH-142)." Richard Diebenkorn: Works like "Ocean Park #60," which displays his progression into abstract forms using geometric shapes and a subdued color palette. Other Masters: The collection also includes works by Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, and Helen Frankenthaler. The museum building itself is spacious, which means it feels mostly like space. The coolest thing was the meticulous library that felt too nice to even touch. Be sure to see the Cantor Arts Museum next door. Random Notes: One exhibit had a music video by Nick Cave on repeat, which was annoying and a little out of place, echoing throughout the museum. Oddly, it was not the Nick Cave you are thinking off (i.e. Bad Seeds). It was a different Nick Cave. Which is weird. It's like saying "Oh, yeah, no, that painting of the flower over there is actually Georgia O'Queef." 1. One of the collection's anchor pieces, a major painting by Clyfford Still, was acquired a jockey who had won the famous 1950s television quiz show, "The $64,000 Question," and then retired to open an art gallery in San Francisco. 2. Mark Tansey's painting "Yosemite Falls (Homage to Watkins)" (1993), depicts the famous waterfall, but instead of falling water, the cascade is made up of cameras and tripods. I looked into an art textbook to try to interpret it and apparently it means I am gay.

This museum features the history of the peninsula, from the Ohlones to the present, and educates…read morevisitors about the growth and changes that have had such a powerful impact on the community over time. There are so many different rooms and exhibits on two levels, make sure you give yourself at least one and a half hours (at minimum), in order to make the most out of your visit. I really enjoyed the Living the California Dream gallery detailing suburban life and middle-class living, in an object theatre with a repeating 6-minute show when the room darkens then highlights the items on display, including instruments, household appliances, and more. Ships of the World showcased a plethora of model ships in great detail, created by Charles Parsons, a resident of nearby San Carlos. So many scale models, and a section about shipwrecks, including a video discussing the many shipwrecks along the San Mateo coast, how pigeon point was named after a shipwreck, and details about the rydall hall wreck at point montara while transporting coal to SF from Wales... almost 100 shipwrecks from the 1850s to 1950s! The Extraordinary Cow Palace, in the changing exhibit gallery, was so interesting to explore, seeing the history of events and traditions known and loved today, such as the Great Dickens Christmas Fair and the rodeos. In addition, there was plenty of memorabilia dedicated to arts and entertainment, the music industry, and sports. The Innovators gallery showcased inventions of items like the first video tape recorder, and various accomplishments in technology, arts and entertainment, business, and agriculture. This includes the amazing contributions of Nolan Bushnell, his desired carnival-themed restaurant, the first Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose in 1977 (now known as Chuck E. Cheese), as well as Atari and its pong game (also in the 70's). Other exhibits to view and learn about include the Ohlone tule house, inhabitants' utilization of natural resources, the Spanish's impact on life through agriculture, tools and trade, whaling after the gold rush (blubber used for household items like lights, soap, and cosmetics), development of transportation, the real courthouse, displays about law enforcement and biographies of fallen officers, immigration in San Mateo county, and Maverick's, a surfer's dream for big waves near Half Moon Bay (there's even an interactive surfboard where you can ride the waves). The magnificent architecture of the great dome on the second level, is also something to appreciate here, the largest stained glass dome on the west coast, with captivating detail. Even the courthouse square outside the museum entrance is a beautiful area, with lovely fountains out front. The volunteers/staff are helpful and eager to share details about all of the fascinating exhibits. There are guided tours available, but I preferred to explore at my own pace. And taking advantage of first fridays' free admission totally made it worth the trip out.

Past Up We decided…read moreto stop in here on a whim after eating nearby and it was a fun experience. Originally established in 1935 and Later (1999) relocatedin inside the old County Courthouse, this museum is the compendium of knowledge for all things San Mateo County. The Good: *The Courthouse it's located in is old (ca. 1910), has a lot of history, and is on the US National Register of Historic Places. *Located in the heart of Downtown Redwood City with lots of shopping and eateries close-by. *Free admission on the First Friday of the month *The video they have inside on the Cow Palace's origins was fascinating. *Lots of cool old stuff that had me reminiscing of my younger days. *le sigh* The Meh: *$6/Adults admission and $4/students *They have a bunch of plaques dedicated to famous athletes from San Mateo County, but no GOAT?! That's right, Tom Terrific (who went to Serra HS) is suspiciously absent from the walls. It's possible he's there and we missed him, but can't be 100% on either. The Ugly: *The young lady working in the admission office and gift shop wasn't friendly at all and made us feel like we were interrupting her. Conclusion: Fun spot to kill an hour or so learning about the area's past.