La Cañada Flintridge -- The Guerra-Degnan Garden

The Mediterranean Revival style house and one and one-quarter acres property were in derelict condition when purchased in 1999. It had been a grand estate of more than five acres, with buildings designed by architect Paul Revere Williams (1894-1980) and gardens with remarkable faux bois features designed by the original owner, landscape painter Dorothy Degnan. A three-story raftered playhouse, cottage-style guest house, and Olympic size swimming pool were included on the property, but many of the concrete features were buried under thick layers of vegetation. These include a grotto, a tea house, a fallen log bridge over a pond with an impressed lily pond bottom, and a Japanese-style bridge. The concrete structures are highly detailed with impressed images, colors, three-dimensional animals, and hidden waterworks in additional to the tree-imitating faux bois pillars and walls. The property has several ponds and wall fountains, a faux bois cactus garden, faux bois tables and chairs, a baptismal font, prayer bench and prie-dieu, and a throne inlaid with mosaic colored glass. There is shade from mature trees including Italian cypress along the central walkway and wide steps into the garden. Topiary animals were added to the lower lawn, with two topiary quails at the top of the stairs and two concrete lions at the lower terrace. The gardens were restored with drought-tolerant succulents and Mediterranean plants including birds of paradise, clivia, jade, and aloe. Bougainvillea, geraniums, and bromeliads add color. The new, profuse plantings look similar to the original 1920s – 1930s gardens when compared with historic photographs of the property. One of two lath houses is used to house shade plants – begonias, monsteras, ferns, and pelargoniums, while the sunny lath house is used to propagate heirloom vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, beets, eggplant, and radishes that are planted outside for summer and fall harvests. There is a cutting garden with sweet peas, ranunculus, dahlias, and zinnias, a knot garden, and a profusion of roses. Persons associated with the garden's design: Dorothy Degnan (owner and garden designer, 1920's-1930's); Gina and Rod Guerra (owners and gardeners, 1999- ); Mark Berry (landscape architect, 2000-2003).