Hearst's Stones Reworked to Create New Park Pavilion

By Karen M. Kinney

After weeks of careful reconstruction, the San Francisco Botanical Gardens (SFBG) is ready to unveil its historic renovation of the Rhododendron Garden.

Serving as the centerpiece is a new stone pavilion featuring stone remnants of a 12th century Spanish monastery brought to San Francisco by William Randall Hearst in the '20s. The garden is slated to open in September.

Master stonemason and acclaimed sculptor Edwin Hamilton said he paid homage to stone masters of the past when he created an early example of their gothic architecture by using the limestone that preserves their architectural heritage.

According to Hamilton, the carvings are primarily represented by a special centerpiece stone, which was used more than 800 years ago to create a dome-like roof system, also called a stone vault. Hamilton built an I-beam structure that mimics the lines of the vault so the layout looks like it once was.

"This was an architectural breakthrough of the times," Hamilton said. "The whole design of these pieces emanates from this stone, so I wanted to feature that element."

Putting together the structure was no easy task considering the obstacles Hamilton faced during the project.

According to Michael McKechnie, executive director of the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society, Hearst had the stones dismantled, marked in crates and shipped to San Francisco so he could reassemble them and build a complex for his mother.

After the Great Depression and a fire that damaged the crates, Hearst donated them to the City. For more than 60 years the stones were stored behind the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park before being resurrected to become part of Hamilton's other garden park projects, including the Library Terrace Garden, Garden of Fragrance and the California Native Garden.

However, for the Rhododendron Garden, Hamilton wanted to respect the stones as the monks intended so he needed 21st century help.

"Through computer technology we were able to solve the riddle of how the stones were originally put together," said McKechnie. "We were able to conceptually put them together."

According to McKechnie, each stonemason has contributed a part of his heritage, which gives "ancientness" to this kind of construction. Hamilton, who is of Scottish descent, has 25 years of round-the-world experience. His most experienced stone masons, Rogelio Ortiz and Eustorgio Chavez, are descendants of South-Central Mexico.

Ortiz' family has been working with stone for at least 300 years. He was taught by his father and grandfather. Combined with Spanish stones and a Chinese plant collection, the stone pavilion offers a spectacular collection of rhododendron species and local hybrids.

Both Hamilton and McKechnie hope the structure will draw people into the garden and provide a place to gather and appreciate the architectural content as well as provide educational programming about the potential extinction of certain plants.

"We would like to see this be a springboard for conservation, education and how important it is to sustain a variety of plant life in the world," McKechnie said. "We preserve these plants and stones in order for people to learn the cultural history of what they are looking at.

"Preserving these plants and educating people on how these plants can be extinct is important to us. These plants are not found in the wild," he said.

One of the primary goals of the rhododendron renovation is to enhance the visual screen between nearby vehicular traffic and the shady garden walk inside the Arboretum's fence.

"Considering an average of two stones a day could only be worked on, this was a labor intensive project," McKechnie said.

The stonemason did not overlook the historic value of working with the Hearst stones. Hamilton said his crew had to maintain a deep respect for the material because of its delicate condition, and subsequently were connected to their craft in a genuine way.

"I doubt I will ever have another opportunity to work with this kind of material again," Hamilton said. "This project made me aware of being a part of the continuum of my craft, which I've never before felt really connected to."

Donors and trustees paid for the entire pavilion with private money. No public money was used.