In 1890, he moved to Los Angeles working as auditor of the Pacific Cable Railway Company until 1894, when he formed his real estate business, the W. M. Garland Company, headquartered in Henry Huntington's Pacific Electric Building, which became the site of the Jonathan Club.

In 1923, he went to Rome and secured the 1932 Summer Olympics for Los Angeles, then became president of the Tenth Olympiad Committee.

While in Rome, though he was an Episcopalian, he had an audience with Pope Pius XI, and was also received by the King and Queen of Italy.

Other highlights among his many honors, included being Grand Marshal of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses in 1932, attending five national conventions of the G.O.P., and rejecting proposals that he stand for mayor of Los Angeles.

[5] The Garland family built a summer home called Casa Ladera in Pebble Beach, California, and it was there he was stricken, and subsequently died in Monterey, California, on September 26, 1948, shortly before his 50th wedding anniversary.