[1] Sankei-en has a total surface of 175 thousand square meters and features ponds, streams, and undulating paths designed by Sankei Hara himself, plus many historic buildings, such as Tōmyō-ji former three-story pagoda (旧燈明寺三重塔), originally constructed in Kyoto in 1457 and relocated in 1914, and the Former Yanohara House (旧矢箆原家住宅), originally the private residence of the Yanohara family.

In 1953 the garden was donated by the Hara family to the City of Yokohama, which created the Sankeien Hoshōkai Foundation for its repair and maintenance.

The buildings it contains are the former Tōmyō-ji three-storied pagoda, a tea room called Rindō-an (林洞庵), a tea hut called Yokobue-an (横笛庵), Tōkei-ji's former butsuden (旧東慶寺仏殿, Kyū-Tōkei-ji butsuden) and Tōmyō-ji's former hon-dō (Main Hall) (旧燈明寺本堂, Kyū-Tōmyō-ji hon-dō).

[1] Tōmyō-ji's former main hall (Important National Cultural Property) was brought here from Kyoto and is an example of Muromachi period (1336–1557) architecture.

[1] Tōmyō-ji's former three-storied pagoda (Important National Cultural Property) is visible from any point of the garden and is its symbol.

Tōkei-ji's former butsuden (Important National Cultural Property) used to be the main hall of a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura.

Its buildings are the Gomon Gate (御門) (Tangible Cultural Property), the Hakuun-tei (白雲邸) (Tangible Cultural Property), the Rinshunkaku (臨春閣), Tenzui-ji's former Jutō Ōidō (旧天瑞寺寿塔覆堂, Kyū-Tenzui-ji Jutō Ōidō), the Shunsōro (春草廬), the Kinmokutsu (金毛窟), the Gekkaden (月華殿), the Tenju-in (天授院), the Chōshūkaku (聴秋閣), and the Renge-in.

Originally the summer residence of Tokugawa Yorinobu, the first head of the Kii House, it used to stand in Iwade, Wakayama prefecture.

The Gekkaden (Important National Cultural Property) was built in 1603 by Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa shōguns within Kyoto's Fushimi Castle.

The Tenju-in (Important National Cultural Property) was originally a Jizō-dō in Kita-Kamakura near the great Kenchō-ji Zen temple and was bought in 1916.

[1] Tenzui-ji's former Jutō Ōi-dō[3] (Important National Cultural Property, see image above) was built in 1591 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a resting place for his mother, and is one of the few extant buildings attributable with certainty to him.

[1] The construction of the Chōshūkaku (Important National Cultural Property, see photo below) is traditionally attributed to Iemitsu, third of the Tokugawa shōguns.