Royal Dutch Filoli
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Will feature the Filoli Mansion and Gardens below San Francisco as a 'Best of Holland' showcase. One of the best things about learning Flemish is that it opens the door to Dutch language and culture as well. The result is a unique "two for the price of one" deal- something the frugal Dutch of the Holland would appreciate.
The Filoli Mansion was built by William Bourn, head of the 'Water Control Board' or 'Waterschap' for San Francisco. Filoli overlooks the artificial lake that supplies San Francisco's water. The water comes via a more than hundred-mile-long aqueduct from a valley adjacent to Yosemite in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
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| A Royal Venture |
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| Estate Icons |
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The book 'Watership Down', by Richard Adams, is about an ideal place
similar to Camelot. The story is based on the author's WWII experience
at Oosterbeek (East-Stream) in Holland.
In addition to the numerous formal gardens at Filoli, the entire valley becomes a garden each spring. The wild California Poppy is California's Offical Flower.
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William Bourn's water company didn't supply 100% of the water for San Francisco. When Golden Gate park was being built, water from the water company would have been too expensive to irrigate the huge park. A cheaper solution was to build two huge windmills (the largest windmills on earth) at the world at the north and south ends of the park. The windmills pumped enough ground-water to irrigate the park.
Over time, the windmills were replaced by electric pumps and the windmills fell into disrepair. Major restoration of the Southern Windmill is underway, with help from machinists in Holland, and will be completed shortly.
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| Windmill Restoration Project-Worlds Largest Windmill |
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| Car-free Sunday |
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The mansion and surrounding valley is a haven for bicyclers, skaters, and artists (things at which the Dutch excel). It is also one of the venue of the Calidocious® Inc. annual meetings.
On the road outside Filoli, one Sunday each month is declared to be a 'Car Free Sunday'. The road then becomes one of the best places to rollerblade in the United States.
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The precise wording of the Bourn creedo for the 'FILOLI' estate is "FIght for a just cause, LOve your neighbor, LIve a good life". Calidocious® Inc.'s corporate philosophy is very similar. However, Calidocious® Inc. adds a burgundian touch and changes "LIve a good life" to "LIve the good life".
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| Dutch Treats |
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| FIght for somEthing juST. |
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The word for bicyle in Dutch is 'Fiets'. 'Fiets!' is a fitting acronym for William Bourn's first precept, which in Dutch is 'Vechten (or Fechten) voor iets juist'.-(Fight for something just.)
Bicycles, like windmills, flowers- in particular tulips, and skating, are national symbols of Holland.
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Filoli, like Holland, is a center for the graphic arts. In addition to serving as an inspiration to amateur painters, Filoli has been used as the setting for numerous motion pictures.
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| Home to World Class Art-Filmed at Filoli |
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| FiLoLi Fashion- California style clogs |
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| Flanders is also linked to Holland in that the 'Golden Century' of Holland was due largely to Flemish immigrants. When the Spanish invaded Flanders in the 16th century, the Flemish were given the option of either leaving Flanders or converting to Catholicism.
The Flemish immigrants to Holland are credited with helping create the 'Golden Age' of Dutch painting, the Dutch East/West Indies Companies, and the first Stock Exchange.
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The end of the aqueduct from Hetch Hetchy reservoir near Yosemite is marked by a water temple.
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| Filoli temple in honor of Waterschap (Water Control) |
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