By Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee

For his Sierra home, Don Phillips created a view to reflect his global travels. Then he opened his gardens to the world, allowing visitors to share in the mountain magic.

“I was looking out over the pond at the buttes, at all the flowers and trees, and I realized: How could I not share this with others?” Phillips recalls. “This is a truly beautiful place.”

Since he first opened his hideaway to the public in 2002, more than 20,000 visitors have made the trek up Highway 49 to Big Springs Gardens near Sierra City to see Phillips’ masterpiece. They marvel at the trout-filled pond, studded with water lilies and ringed by a vast collection of flowers. They hike among the big trees in the shadow of the Sierra Buttes. They dine surrounded by beauty.

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