Kimberly Crest’s chateau-style Victorian mansion rises above a formal garden terrace, with a conical tower, steep rooflines, and sunlit cream-colored walls. In front, a reflective lily pond, stone balustrade, urn planters, and broad stairs create a layered, symmetrical composition in bright afternoon light.

Kimberly Crest House and Gardens

Redlands, CA

Kimberly Crest is a Victorian-era estate built in 1897, set on 6.2 acres of formal Italian-style gardens with panoramic views of the San Bernardino Valley. The chateau-style mansion features a distinctive conical tower and wraparound veranda surrounded by lily ponds, citrus groves, and terraced gardens. The estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Photography Guide

Best Time: afternoon
Crowds: Quiet
Shot Types: widedetailportrait
Best Seasons: springsummerfall

Practical Tips

The grounds are open Thursday through Sunday; guided interior tours are available for a small fee. Photography of the exterior and gardens is permitted during open hours.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Author's Comments

There is a particular hour at Kimberly Crest, late on a March afternoon, when the light comes in low across the citrus groves and catches the conical tower at exactly the angle it was built for. The house is theatrical by design - all turrets and gables and Victorian ambition - and most photographs of it try to take the whole thing in at once. I think that is a mistake. The wide shot is available and it is fine, but the chateau rewards a longer lens and a willingness to isolate. The tower against the sky. The wrought iron of the veranda railing in shadow. A single citrus tree in the foreground with the mansion soft behind it. The gardens are the quieter argument. They terrace down the hillside in the Italian manner, and the lily ponds catch reflections of the house in a way that asks for an overcast afternoon as much as a sunny one. I have made my best frames here on days that photographers usually skip - the soft, even light flattening the color and letting the geometry of the parterres come forward. Spring brings the citrus blossoms and a particular sweetness in the air that does not photograph but changes the way you see. Fall brings clearer air and the valley opens up below the property in a way it cannot in the summer haze. Come on a Thursday. The crowds are essentially nothing. Bring something that lets you isolate detail and something that lets you breathe wide when the view earns it.

Gallery

Kimberly Crest’s chateau-style mansion rises above a manicured lawn and clipped hedges, with a teal roof, conical tower, and arched veranda trimmed for the holidays. Stone balustrades, topiary evergreens, and tall trees frame the estate in soft afternoon light. Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Sunlit formal gardens stretch across a broad lawn, with tall evergreens, cypress trees, and dense landscaping glowing in late-afternoon light. The edge of Kimberly Crest’s chateau-style house appears at right, showing a rounded tower and decorative veranda railing above the terraced grounds. Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Stone pergolas and fountain basins sit in a terraced formal garden, framed by dense evergreens, drooping cypress, and a broad sloping lawn. Late-afternoon light gives the scene a soft, shaded look with a few bright highlights on the columns and foliage. Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Stone steps and balustrades rise through manicured hedges to a formal garden terrace, framed by globe-topped lamps, urn planters, and a pergola. Bright afternoon light washes the scene, with a broad green lawn in the foreground and dense trees and palms behind. Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Kimberly Crest’s blue-roofed Victorian mansion rises behind a sloping green lawn, with a conical tower, arched veranda, and balustraded terrace lit by the low afternoon sun. In the foreground, a stone pergola and fountain frame the formal garden, while tall evergreens and bare winter branches edge the estate. Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

A sunlit terraced garden is packed with agave, tall spiky succulents, and bright yellow flowers, with a white metal railing and bare tree branches in the background. A terracotta pot sits on a stone ledge beside a low retaining wall, giving the scene a layered, formal garden feel. Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Kimberly Crest House glows at night with holiday lights, wreaths, and decorated trees above a formal stone terrace. The mansion’s turreted Victorian roofline is mirrored in the still reflecting pool below, framed by stairways, balustrades, and bare winter trees. Photo: Soly Moses / Pexels

Kimberly Crest’s Victorian mansion rises beyond a manicured formal garden, with a central walkway leading past clipped topiary, low flower beds, and tall trees in warm afternoon light. The chateau-style house stands out with its conical tower, wraparound veranda, and red-tiled roof against a clear blue sky. Photo: Soly Moses / Pexels

Victorian mansion with a rounded conical tower and wraparound veranda sits in formal gardens, framed by palms and dense greenery in warm afternoon light. A sign in the foreground reads “Morey Mansion,” with stone steps, trimmed hedges, and a sunlit lawn leading up to the house. Photo: Soly Moses / Pexels

Nearby Places

Rows of empty green benches sweep across the foreground toward the Redlands Bowl’s white, classical stage shell, framed by tall palms and cypress trees. Soft golden light brightens the amphitheater and surrounding lawn, giving the scene a calm, late-afternoon feel.

Overlooks

Redlands, CA

Prospect Park and Smiley Heights

Prospect Park sits atop a hill in Redlands offering panoramic views of the surrounding citrus groves, San Bernardino Valley, and the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountain ranges. The park contains the historic Redlands Bowl outdoor amphitheater, established in 1924. The elevated vantage point provides layered compositions of urban landscape against mountain backdrops.

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Inside the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, a bright museum gallery displays wood-and-glass cases of Civil War artifacts beneath a red timeline running along the white walls. Recessed ceiling lights and gray carpeting give the room a quiet, formal feel, with visitors standing near exhibits at the back.

Hidden Gems

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Lincoln Memorial Shrine

The Lincoln Memorial Shrine in Smiley Park is the only museum and memorial west of the Mississippi dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. Designed by architect Elmer Grey and completed in 1932, the octagonal limestone building features a distinctive Romanesque-Egyptian style. The surrounding Smiley Park provides a mature tree canopy and adjacent reflecting pool.

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Inside a restored one-room schoolhouse, rows of vintage wooden desks sit on a glossy red floor beneath cream-yellow walls and dark wainscoting. Sunlight streams through tall multi-pane windows, illuminating chalkboards, framed portraits, and an old teacher’s desk at the front.

Canyons

Redlands, CA

San Timoteo Canyon

San Timoteo Canyon is a broad valley southeast of Redlands characterized by rolling golden grass hills, scattered oaks, and a seasonal creek corridor. The undeveloped landscape evokes rural California with ranch fencing, old barns, and sweeping hill contours. The canyon road provides numerous pullouts for photographing the pastoral scenery against distant mountain ranges.

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