Repurposed medieval carved stones find an unlikely home in Golden Gate Park.

The San Francisco Botanical Library at the Strybing Arboretum needed a place for visitors to gather and remnant irregular 12th century Spanish monastery stones abandoned by William Randolph Hearst in the 1930s were available for a dignified new life. The combination proved magical.

The new garden terrace offers a sunny library sanctuary within the extensive Asian Horticultural collection, serves as the meeting spot for garden tours, and is a forum for parties and events. A richly textured low wall composed of remnant medieval columns, flutes, ribbing, and ornaments, creates a garden enclosure with integral seating around a central fountain. Extending the Botanical Library into the Arboretum’s living collections, the terrace garden is a cozy refuge with prospect over the Botanical Garden’s main lawn.