On a hillside just west of downtown Saratoga, Hakone has 18 acres of gardens, wooden buildings and koi ponds. The National Park Service calls it the oldest Japanese-style country villa in the Western Hemisphere.

A world's fair souvenir

San Francisco philanthropists Oliver and Isabel Stine bought the land in 1915 as a summer retreat. Isabel Stine was taken with the Japanese exhibits at that year's Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Hakone says she had plantings and ornaments from the fair's Japanese pavilion brought to Saratoga. After touring gardens in Japan, she hired architect Tsunematsu Shintani and landscape architect Naoharu Aihara, according to the Park Service.

In 1923, Stine, a co-founder of the San Francisco Opera, hosted a West Coast premiere of "Madame Butterfly" in the garden, the Park Service says.

Owners after the Stines

In 1932, Major Charles Lee Tilden bought the estate. He was the first president of the East Bay Regional Park District, and Tilden Park is named for him. Gardener James Sasaki cared for Hakone for three decades, except during World War II, when his family was held at the Topaz internment camp in Utah, Hakone says.

A partnership of Saratoga residents, including four Chinese American couples, owned it from 1961 to 1966. That year the City of Saratoga bought it to save it from subdivision. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

What to see

There are four gardens. The Hill and Pond Garden, Zen Garden and Tea Garden are original to the site. The Bamboo Garden, added in 1987, honors Saratoga's sister city near Kyoto. Hakone was also a filming location for "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Hours and tips

  • Winter hours, Oct. 31 to March 15: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day
  • Saratoga residents get in free on the first Tuesday of each month. As of January 2026, other Santa Clara County residents no longer get free admission
  • Museums for All: EBT cardholders get free admission for up to four people
  • No pets except service dogs. Buses over 30 feet can't make the entry road