Eugene J. de Sabla, Jr., Teahouse and Tea Garden

[1] The El Cerrito estate, and eventually the tea garden on the property, passed through the hands of many notable California families and people throughout its history.

The estate was originally owned by a rich merchant from San Mateo named William Davis Merry Howard in 1853.

[1] McLaren later gained fame by becoming the superintendent of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park after leaving the job at the Howard estate.

Bowie did not stay in the property after Poett's death though, he instead traveled to Japan and became an American expert on the country after returning to his homeland in 1902.

[5] After the garden was constructed, local social events were regularly hosted in its confines, even after de Sabla sold the property to another wealthy socialite family, the St. Cyr clan, in 1919.

It additionally includes a small, man-made mountain made partly of volcanic Japanese rock from which a stream flows out of and into a waterfall and a lake filled with Koi.

[1] Tiny electric lights illuminate the garden at night and a bamboo fence with a roofed entrance surrounds the entire estate.

It was eventually turned into a large full residence adding a guest house and garage in the corner of the garden.