The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California. In addition to the library, the institution houses an extensive art collection with a focus on 18th and 19th century European art and 17th to mid-20th century American art. The property also has approximately 120 acres (49 ha) of specialized botanical landscaped gardens, including the "Japanese Garden", the "Desert Garden", and the "Chinese Garden".
Huntington Library, built in 1920; its main reading room now is an exhibition hall.
Formerly the residence of Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and his wife, Arabella Huntington (1850–1924), the Huntington Art Gallery opened in 1928.
Ellesmere Manuscript, an early 15th-century manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, housed in the library
The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1770
Henry Edwards Huntington was an American railroad magnate and collector of art and rare books. Huntington settled in Los Angeles, where he owned the Pacific Electric Railway as well as substantial real estate interests. In addition to being a businessman and art collector, Huntington was a major booster for Los Angeles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many places in California are named after him.
Henry E. Huntington
The Huntington Mansion, 1915; now the centerpiece of the Huntington Library
Postcard of sightseers, circa 1910, driving up Mount Rubidoux in Riverside, California via Huntington Drive