Biden, Xi meet for APEC at Calif. mansion that made soap opera history

Wednesday’s meeting of presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping at Filoli adds even more history to the fascinating and illustrious Bay Area mansion. Although this meeting will certainly have more geopolitical implications, a moment captured in Filoli’s library 42 years ago changed pop culture forever. 

The unusual name of the Woodside mansion, located about 30 miles south of San Francisco, comes from the motto of the Bourn family. In the Gilded Age, William Bowers Bourn II became one of California’s wealthiest men by controlling the Empire gold mine in Grass Valley. His involvement in the state’s early utilities infrastructure would also later lead to the creation of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. 

With his fortune, Bourn built or bought some of the most beautiful homes in California and Ireland: Villa Eden Del Mar on Pebble Beach’s 17-Mile Drive, Bourn Mansion at 2550 Webster St. in San Francisco, Muckross House in Killarney, Ireland, and Filoli in Woodside. The pseudo-Italian name was a mashup of letters from Bourn’s credo: “Fight for a just cause. Love your fellow man. Live a good life.”

After William and wife Agnes’ deaths, the mansion was bought by Lurline Matson Roth, the heiress to the Matson shipping empire. Due to the immense costs of maintaining the estate, the mansion was in decline when Roth gifted it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the 1970s. It was restored and opened to the public for tours. 

Filoli’s stunning facade and grounds  — said to be partly inspired by the magnificent country home Muckross — became a popular location for Hollywood productions. “Heaven Can Wait,” starring Warren Beatty, used the grounds for filming, David Fincher’s thriller “The Game” featured the mansion and even rom-com classic “The Wedding Planner” shot footage there. 

But its true star turn came in 1981 when a new soap opera called “Dynasty” shot its three-episode pilot there. The sexy, scandalous lives of the Carrington family unfolded in their Denver mansion, which was actually Filoli. Stars John Forsythe, Linda Evans, Pamela Sue Martin and Al Corley filmed in the home and gardens, including a scene in the Filoli library that would make television history. It was there that son Steven Carrington came out to patriarch Blake Carrington, making Steven the first openly gay lead on a primetime drama. 

Although filming on-site was impractical, the home was so central to the look and feel of “Dynasty” that 20th Century Fox built an eight-room replica on a soundstage back in Hollywood. (The mansion in the show’s opening credits is actually Filoli, though.)

The pilot was met with mixed reviews. A review in the Sacramento Bee said that “although the life-style of Carrington and his clan is lush and the photography at Filoli magnificent, the characters, at least in the premiere, do not have the depth and fascinating complexities of those in ‘Dallas.’” The Berkeley Gazette, meanwhile, lauded the fact it had “something for everyone,” including “a homosexual son, a nymphomaniac daughter, a leading character who is a ruthless energy tycoon, a venal chauffeur,” and “a younger wife who, to quote another character, ‘longs to be in bed with someone else.’”

The show, of course, went on to become a smash hit for producer Aaron Spelling, and the opulent clothes and sky-high hairstyles of the “Dynasty” cast turned into style icons for the era. 

Today, Filoli isn’t just a hotspot for world leaders. Many people from around the globe travel to the Woodside estate to pay homage to Joan Collins, Heather Locklear and the rest of the Carrington clan.