WESTWOOD—The UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden along with the adjoining residence is in the process of being sold in order to fulfill the intents of the initial donation. The proceeds of the sale will be used toward funding numerous endowments.

The Hannah Carter Japanese Garden. Photo Courtesy of UCLA

The property sits on two acres and is located about a mile from campus in Bel Air. Along with the garden, a home also sits on the property that was donated in 1965 by Edward W. Carter, former chair of the UC Board of Regents, and his wife Hannah Carter.

According to a UCLA news release, it is estimated by campus officials that the sale of the property would provide the university with about $4.2 million in endowments as set forth by conditions for the donation by the Carter estate. Endowments and professorships to receive funds are in business administration at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and in internal medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; a professorship along with a research center in 17th-century European art. Also, use of discretionary funding would be provided to the director of UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute.

"The decision to sell the garden was made only after extensive deliberation and analysis," UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh said. "While we value the garden and the cultural heritage it represents, in this time of financial constraints, we need to direct our resources toward UCLA's core academic priorities of teaching and research."

In speaking to Bradley Erickson, executive director of UCLA Campus Service Enterprises, Canyon News learned that there were plans to use the garden for educational purposes, but because of the lack of interest in the proposed program, it never materialized. It was also revealed that the property was once considered as a potential residence for the chancellor. It was determined, however, that the property would not be appropriate for residential use, coupled with that the fact that the chancellor already has a residence on campus that is also host to numerous social engagements for the school. 

Erickson also noted the difficulty of attracting visitors to the garden, as it had been discovered that contrary to previous beliefs, the area that was designated for parking actually belonged to the estate of Gene Roddenberry. This left the property with only three available parking spaces, a fact making it extremely difficult for the garden to serve any reasonable public function.

Finally, it was discovered that although there has been an interest, no official marketing of the property can be made public until January of next year.

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