The hook
A railroad fortune bought a Gutenberg Bible, Gainsborough's Blue Boy, and a hundred and twenty acres of gardens, and left all of it open to the public in San Marino.
01Why it's worth it
Henry Huntington made his money on Southern California's streetcars and real estate and spent it on three obsessions: rare books, British art, and plants. The library holds one of only eleven vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible; the gallery has the Blue Boy and Pinkie facing each other across a room. But the gardens are what turn a visit into a day. The Desert Garden is one of the oldest and largest collections of cacti and succulents anywhere, a genuinely alien landscape you walk into; the Chinese Garden is the biggest outside China, all pavilions and reflecting water; the Japanese Garden has been here since 1912. You could skip the art entirely and still leave full.
02How to experience it
It's in San Marino near Pasadena, about six hours from the Bay. Admission isn't cheap and timed reservations are usually required, so book ahead. Come when it opens to beat the heat in the desert garden and give yourself most of a day; there's a tea room if you plan for it.