MAGIC OF DISNEYLAND INSPIRED MT. HELIX GARDEN WITH MANY LANDS

Story and photos by Karen Pearlman

April 24, 2025 (Mount Helix) – There are no rides or parades in its magical atmosphere, but a local garden in Mount Helix area has been influenced by a famous amusement park in Anaheim.

Bob Caparas and his childhood sweetheart, Carole, have channeled the magic of Disneyland to help them create a unique space along the 1 1/3 acres of hills and valleys adjacent to their home on Grandview Road.

Their garden allows visitors to meander along a main path of cobblestones, bamboo and dirt, with  side paths that branch out from it leading lead to several distinct “lands.” The different lands pay tribute to different areas around the globe, and honor different times and eras as well --- from Mayan/Aztec culture to the African plateaus to Greco-Roman to Polynesia and event prehistoric days of dinosaurs.

Small details as you walk along the path are worth seeking out -- like different types and styles of artwork carved or painted on stones – some of which Bob Caparas has done himself, including a petroglyph of a feather serpent god. There’s even an homage to Stonehenge. Bannisters help guests keep their balance in some spots, where things are a little steep.

The garden is dotted with hundreds of figurines and statues -- including gnomes, a group of brassy-looking giraffes, Buddha likenesses, lion heads, a stoic black panther, a Sphinx and other fantastical and fun statues and figures, all inviting you to explore your imagination.

Several Native American grinding rocks can be found along the path and a fairy garden awaits near the top. A few hanging glass chandeliers are hanging around the garden. There is even a set of “googly eyes” strategically placed on one weathered stone that has what looks like a nose jutting out from it.

Bob and Carole Caparas say some of the garden’s extras, like fossilized footprints, totem poles and a hand-painted doorway that takes you from one land to another, have come from purchases from far away as well as local second-hand stores, thrift shops and swap meets.

A relaxing, sometimes bubbling channel of water flows through their yard including a creek replete with arched stone bridges, seven different waterfalls,with some of the water landing in ponds where critters come quench their thirst. There’s a dedicated meditation area, several benches (some with cushions) and cozy sitting spots to take in the sights and sounds in secluded spaces.

Carole Caparas said the site draws every animal imaginable: foxes, rabbits, egrets, raccoons, coyotes, hawks, skunks, owls, lizards and opossums. A recent visit brought a hummingbird that seemed to know exactly what flower it wanted and precisely where to go to get nectar and a pond to dip into afterward.

The homeowners say they haven’t seen any rattlesnakes, but there are some hand-painted snake figures, including one done by Carole. She said with a smile, “I’m not sure what kind of snake it is, but it is a poisonous one!”

A bobcat once made it into the garden. Carole Caparas said she saw the big cat leap over the tall fence and gate that was built to keep intruders out.

Greenery runs the gamut from honeysuckle and seemingly every type of cacti to dragon trees and Northwest Coast Oak trees, from an 80-foot King palm to the beautiful deep yellow of the Cup of Gold (Solandra maxima) and the bright purple Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans). There are various geraniums, the rare South American Ocotillo and a lone off-white calla lily in one spot. There are plenty of Laurel sumacs, some eucalyptus trees, jacarandas and myriad assorted fruit trees.

Many of the fruit trees – cherries, mulberries, lemons, oranges, Macadamia nuts, pears, loquats, cherimoya and many more -- grow near where the Caparas’ Spanish-American house has a panoramic view looking west toward the Pacific Ocean.

The garden is always a work in progress, according to Bob Caparas.

“I can’t sit still, I need to stay busy,” he said.

Even at 81, he is still working, as a buyer and seller of Navajo textiles.

Moving to Mount Helix

Bob Caparas was living in San Diego’s Burlingame area in the 1970s. He and his then-wife bought the house and adjacent land on Mt. Helix in 1979. He said initially a friend of his planned to buy the house and asked Bob to look at it to see what he thought.

“The house was all run down and everything, but it had an ocean view, and there was an orchard here,” he recalled. “It was only 1,500 square feet and I said to him, ‘Great, go buy it!’ And then interest rates went up a quarter percent and he said, ‘You know what? I don’t know…’ It was his first house. So I got my real estate agent and said, ‘Go buy that house! I got it for a low price -- $159,000! But you know, it was 1979.”

Carole Caparas moved in about 25 years later, when the two got married. The two have known each other since they were teenagers many decades ago. They both were previously married and reconnected at their 30^th San Diego High School reunion.

“I had a crush on her a long time ago,” Bob Caparas said. “We both went our separate ways and after the 30^th reunion, she swooped in on me.”

Carole dons gardening gloves and works in the garden regularly, but it is Bob, she says, who makes the magic happen, she said.

“I love beauty all around me,” Carole Caparas said. “He's so good at everything he does. I could suggest something one day and by the next day, it’s done.”

In between the years before Carole moved in – from the 1980s until 2003 -- and all the years since, Bob has been adding to the yard, carving out space and creating the vibe.

Caparas recalled the Mount Helix area being just wilderness in a canyon “but I could see the potential of it!”

He said he spotted “all these rocks that were under the under the trees and under the shrubs,” and so it began.

“Originally, I was a cabinet maker at the time and a musician,” he recalled. “So I was renovating the house -- the kitchen and all the bedrooms.” Then he went out in the yard and staredt working, digging trails and moving rocks.  “I just saw the potential of it. I just kept on going, starting from the from the road and I just kept digging it all out where the creek is. And since then, it’s been ongoing, a never-ending project.”

Initially, Bob Caparas said he hired a few laborers and several 20-foot dumpsters, hauling out “stuff” that didn’t belong in a garden.

He has brought hundreds (if not thousands) of rocks from the road down to the garden, many of which currently line the creek, which was initially covered by elephant grass.

“You couldn’t see the creek,” he recalled. “When I got all the grass and other stuff out of here, I saw there could be water in the ground and I got a bar and just hit down to the bedrock. As I started digging here, getting all the dirt out, we just kept going.”

Visitors and Inspiration

Bob and Carole Caparas host garden tours on occasion, including the Grossmont Mt. Helix Improvement Association tours several times,  but mostly enjoy their space with friends and family members.

Photo, right, reclining Buddah displayed during 2010 GMIA Garden Tour

Bob Caparas said he remembered several years ago, an employee from a cable TV company got an impromptu tour while on the job.

He was in awe of the garden and found one particular area that spoke to him. He told Bob and Carole that he was planning on becoming a monk and asked if he could bring some of his friends from Ramona, who also were studying to be monks to visit. The visitors never came, but the couple said they would have welcomed the group.

Bob Caparas said for those who are interested in building their own garden, he would advise them to already love gardens and to have a great deal of patience.

“That’s been a problem for me,” he said, laughing. “I want it instantly! When I first came here and started planting things, a woman across the street who lived here, her brother used to come over. And one time he goes, ‘You plant trees like my sister! And that’s why they’re never gonna grow!’ Because I was planting them so close together… because I wanted instant foliage! I had to learn to give them room.”

Bob and Carole Caparas say they haunt nurseries, read good books for inspiration and visit Balboa Park and the world famous San Diego Zoo within it.

“For sure, you know that’s where the most expensive plants are,” Bob Caparas advised. “The plants are worth more than all the animals at the Zoo. And it’s one of the greatest botanical gardens.”