water garden

What was the original estate’s swimming pool, built in the early 1920s and flanked by shallow ponds, is Lotusland’s major water garden and home to a magnificent display of its namesake flower.

The original bath house, designed by prominent Santa Barbara architect George Washington Smith. Several species and cultivars of Asian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera ssp. nucifera and ssp. lutea) are in the main pool. The side ponds have more lotuses and various species and cultivars of water lily (Nymphaea, Euryale, Nuphar, & Victoria).

Bog gardens are located on either side of tile benches and feature plants that thrive in damp soil such as taro (Colocasia esculenta) and ornamental sugar cane (Saccharum). A large clump of Papyrus hangs gracefully over a shallow pool of tropical water lilies.

Original owner Kinton Steven called it Tanglewood. After his death, the property was operated as a guest ranch and school until Erastus and Marie Gavit purchased it in 1916 and renamed it Cuesta Linda (“pretty hill”). Madame Walska and then-husband, the “White Lama” Theos Bernard, dubbed it “Tibetland” in 1941, and after their divorce, Madame Walska settled on the name “Lotusland” for the abundant flowers that remained in the original lotus pond.

© 2012 Ganna Walska Lotusland