Goose Egg Park Forever in my Heart

Officially, this little tucked-away Santa Monica green space is now Bob Holbrook Park, but after years of knowing it as Goose Egg Park, I’m not sure that name will ever completely leave my vocabulary.

The park was renamed in 2022 in honor of Bob Holbrook, a native Santa Monican who served on the City Council for over 20 years and several times as mayor. I especially love that Holbrook himself played at Goose Egg Park as a child. He went on to become a strong advocate for Santa Monica’s parks and public spaces during his decades of civic service.

And the park itself goes back even further. This tiny, roughly 0.7-acre green space was actually included in the neighborhood’s original 1905 subdivision as an aesthetic feature. So for more than a century, this little patch of green has been part of the fabric of the neighborhood.

It’s a wonderfully calm, quiet spot, and it holds something pretty special: one of Santa Monica’s designated Heritage Trees.

The tree here is a magnificent old Yate, a type of eucalyptus and a wonderful example of the many eucalyptus species planted throughout California.

This particular tree has a special place in my own history, too. During our homeschooling years, my children loved climbing it when we visited the park. I love the idea that Bob Holbrook played in this park as a child decades before my own kids did, a little green space connecting generations of Santa Monica childhoods.

If you visit, keep walking over to 7th Street, where you can turn your stroll into a eucalyptus scavenger hunt. Look for Lemon-Scented Gum, Blue Gum and Yate, along with their close relative, Brisbane Box.

Photo by Stephanie Carrie @TreesofLA

And don’t just look at the trees. Look at the houses, too. The surrounding neighborhood grew during an important period in Santa Monica’s early-20th-century development, and you can still spot homes reflecting the Arts and Crafts era. The neighborhood was developed as the Palisades Tract in the early 1900s, and many of its older homes still reflect the Arts and Crafts influences of that era. Walking these streets, the architecture, mature trees and small green spaces like Goose Egg Park make that early neighborhood planning surprisingly easy to see.

Trees, architecture, neighborhood history and personal memories all tucked into one tiny park. That’s exactly the kind of place I love finding in Santa Monica.

Written by Natalie Wampler, owner of Garden Safaris, where she leads urban walks exploring Santa Monica through its gardens, trees, architecture and stories. 🌿

To read more about Garden Safaris, read Jessica Cole’s blog, Santa Monica Wayfinding with Garden Safaris.