Hakone Gardens: A Japanese Garden in the Bay Area

Hakone Estate and Gardens — usually just "Hakone Gardens" — was built in 1915 by Oliver and Isabel Stine on a hillside above Saratoga. The original buildings and grounds were designed by Naoharu Aihara, a court gardener trained in Japan, who based the plan on a 17th-century Kyoto strolling garden. It's the oldest Japanese-style residential garden in the Western Hemisphere.

The site is small — about 18 acres — but the garden is so densely layered that you can spend two hours and not see all of it.

The main pond at the entry is the most photographed view — the cypress and pine framing the tea house, the pond rocks placed in the classical configuration. The water is shallow but holds koi.

The stone lanterns are placed throughout the property — at path junctions, at the edges of the water, and at the base of larger trees. Most are weathered enough that the moss has grown into the carved surfaces.

The upper section of the garden is more wooded and less manicured. The small tea pavilion back here is one of the original 1915 structures. The bamboo fencing is the recognizable Japanese pattern — vertical bamboo poles bound with tarred twine.

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Tips

• Closed Mondays. Check the schedule before you drive up.
• Weekday afternoons are quietest. The garden hosts weddings and tea ceremonies on weekends.
• Parking is tight. The lot at the bottom fills early; overflow is on the street below.
• Photography rules. Tripods are restricted; check at the gate. Phones and handheld cameras are fine everywhere.
• The Cultural Exchange Center on site sells matcha and small Japanese sweets — worth pairing with the visit.