Santa Rosa highlight
Luther Burbank Home & Gardens
Luther Burbank's historic home in Santa Rosa, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964, now operates as a city park with free access to gardens and paid guided tours.
Luther Burbank, the American horticulturist, lived in the home at Santa Rosa from 1884 to 1906 and conducted much of his plant development work on the property. Burbank is credited with developing or improving many plant varieties that became commercially and culturally significant, including the Burbank Potato, the Shasta Daisy, and new varieties of plums and stone fruits. After Burbank's death in 1926, his widow Elizabeth continued to live on the property until her death in 1977. The home was designated a California Historical Landmark in 1935 and a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
Today the property operates as a city park containing Burbank's cottage, a working greenhouse, and gardens maintained by over 100 volunteers. The gardens are open daily without charge; guided docent-led tours cost $12 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors. Tours and the museum operate seasonally from April through October. The specialty gardens include sections for medicinal plants, edible landscapes, and native plant habitats, reflecting Burbank's approach to using plants for practical purpose.
For families in Santa Rosa, the Burbank Home represents a legacy of cultivation and planning for the future—Burbank selected each plant variety for durability and benefit to generations to come. That long-view approach is what families do when they choose term life coverage sized to protect what will endure after them: a home, a business, the education of the next generation.