Darlington House
7441 Olivetas Ave, La Jolla, CA
About This Vendor
Historic Charm, Modern Elegance
Located in the picturesque San Diego neighborhood of La Jolla, Darlington House is a historic home and wedding venue. It offers a romantic setting for events and is a few blocks away from the blue lapping waters of the Pacific Ocean. With architectural details influenced by traditions around the world, this vintage house is full of memorability. It has both indoor and outdoor spaces available and can be easily customized to a couple’s wedding day ideas. Darlington House was originally the part-time home of Mrs. Sybil Darlington. Inside, the sophisticated furnishings and unexpected details make it a treat for guests to explore. Outside, the home’s exquisite gardens delight the eyes with rich, natural colors and textures. Three architects played a role in the home's creation from 1925 to 1940. Sybil loved to travel, a passion that is evident in the Spanish, Grecian, Italian, and Egyptian designs incorporated throughout the house. Ornate wooden doors, stained glass from an Egyptian mosque, and vintage tiles are among some of the elements that make this an aesthetically pleasing locale. Only one event is held per day at Darlington House to ensure that couples and their guests can fully immerse themselves in the occasion. The venue is suited to large and small gatherings alike. Outside, the Egyptian Patio can accommodate 100 people for ceremonies while the Rose Garden can seat 200 for vow exchanges and 150 for dinners. The Andalusian Patio and Library are ideal for cocktail receptions. Dressing rooms are available in the upstairs suites and the caterer can make use of the kitchen’s facilities. Couples can choose their own vendors, making it easy for them to celebrate in a way that reflects their style and personalities.
Amenities + Details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Covered Outdoors Space
On-Site Accommodations
Wireless Internet
Business Attributes
Woman-owned Business
Ceremony Types
Civil Union, Commitment Ceremony, Interfaith Ceremony, Non-Religious Ceremony, Religious Ceremony, Second Wedding , Vow Renewal Ceremony
Guest Capacity
Up to 200
Settings
Backyard, Beach, Estate, Garden, Historic Venue
Awards and Affiliations
Pricing for Darlington House
Browse Darlington House's pricing PDF for sample services and estimates.
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Darlington House Reviews
4.7 out of 5.0
38 reviews
5 Star
79%
4 Star
13%
3 Star
5%
2 Star
3%
1 Star
0%
We wanted a venue that spoke for itself, and we found that at Darlington House! Truly a stunning venue with a lot of character. We brought in minimal decor - loose greenery and candles on farm tables, bud vases during cocktail hour and in welco...
me area - and let the unique character of the venue really shine. From the ceremony above the Egyptian Fountain, reception in the Rose Garden, and bar in the library, this venue provided a unique feel/experience for every moment. You do have to select a caterer from their provided list. We went with Personal Touch Dining, and they were fantastic! Staff at Darlington House were very responsive, quick to respond to emails and answering any/all questions. Highly recommend!
Response from the Vendor on 09/29/2023
Thank you so much for your kind words, Melissa. We are thrilled that you had a wonderful wedding at Darlington House and appreciate you spreading the word! : )
The venue was gorgeous and just amazing. If your looking for a Tuscan feel in San Diego, this is your place. The venue was great to work with and their preferred vendors are amazing. So glad I chose this venue for my dream wedding that I would...
like again and again.
Response from the Vendor on 11/10/2023
Hi Ale,
We are delighted to hear that you had such a wonderful wedding at Darlington House! Your kind words mean so much to us. : )
We had our wedding at the Darlington House on 9/29/23 and it was the most perfect day! The venue is absolutely gorgeous, from the historic feel of the inside, to the really unique library, and the luscious gardens outside. It's everything you c...
ould dream of for your special day. I love that you have each event in a separate place within the venue and you don't have to add a bunch of decor because the venue speaks for itself. Our guests absolutely loved it and so did we.
I mainly worked with Carly and she was great! So helpful and quick to respond to my emails and random questions. Our day went so smoothly, we can't thank the rest of the staff enough for such a beautiful wedding!
Response from the Vendor on 11/10/2023
Thank you so much for your lovely review of Darlington House, Kira!
Any questions?
My husband and I got married at the Darlington House September 1, 2023. We had the best experience working with Carly and the staff at Darlington. They were responsive and had great communication, provided us with some outstanding vendor recomm...
endations to help make our day special, and the venue was absolutely stunning.
Response from the Vendor on 11/10/2023
We are thrilled that your wedding day was all you dreamed of, Kimberly! Thank you for your kind words, they mean so much to us.
We fell in love with Darlington House the moment we saw it. Our guests felt the same! No one could stop talking about how beautiful it was. The old California charm makes it a special destination for out-of-town folks. Everywhere you look is an...
other stunning detail. We hardly had to decorate because it is already so gorgeous. Planning with them was smooth and easy, and so was everything on our wedding day. I couldn't have imagined a better venue for our wedding.
Response from the Vendor on 06/28/2023
Thank you so much for your kind words, Claire. We are so happy to hear that you had a magical wedding day and appreciate that you're spreading the word about our venue!
The venue is absolutely beautiful and unique than any other venue we toured. When touring the venue, the employee let us know that music has to be off by 10 the latest and in the contract it says 9:30PM. She said that they don't mind if it goes...
towards 9:55PM (closer to 10PM) as long as the DJ knows that it has to be turned off by 10pm. Also, I was informed that we would be able to use any furniture from the house for the wedding, such as using one of the benches for our sweet heart table. There is also a balcony with stairs in which I inquired about us using it for pictures in which they agreed. The day of the wedding, we were not allowed to use any furniture for the sweet heart table, and not allowed to bring any furniture outside of the house. Also, we were denied using the balcony for any photo ops despite what they said previously since the venue manager working said no. Music went till about 9:40PM in which then the venue manager that night came and told the DJ to turn it off. There seems to be a lot of miss information provided and it really just depends on who is working your venue that night sadly. We still loved having our wedding there, however, I wish this information was more clear since then I would have considered other locations.
Darlington House was the perfect venue for our wedding! We were going for a timeless garden feel. The combination of the historic charm of the house, multiple courtyards, and lush garden feel throughout made this venue any easy choice for us. D...
arlington House was the perfect starting canvas for our big day!
Response from the Vendor on 09/26/2022
Thank you so much for sharing your kind words about Darlington House on The Knot. We are so happy to hear that you had a wonderful wedding!
Darlington House is stunningly beautiful and is the perfect place to have a wedding. The inside and the courtyards are kept in excellent shape and provided so many spaces for guests to mingle and celebrate. Carly was so helpful in getting us al...
l booked for the event, especially with navigating the changing pandemic situation. We were originally planning to get married in April 2021 but had to push back to October, and Carly was very accommodating. Thank you for a magical night Darlington House!
Response from the Vendor on 04/21/2022
Thank you so much for your very kind words, Alex and Alexis! We are so happy that you chose to celebrate at Darlington House and hope that we will be a part of your happy memories for years to come!
Only great things to say about Darlington House! We rescheduled three times due to the pandemic, and the folks at Darlington House made it incredibly easy and stress free. The grounds are beautiful; it's very much like you're getting married on...
someone's supremely gorgeous and private estate. Carly was wonderful to work with and we can't recommend Darlington House enough.
Response from the Vendor on 03/23/2022
Thank you so much for your kind words, Cara! It may have taken longer than expected, but we are so happy that we got to help you celebrate your beautiful wedding at Darlington House!
We could not have had a more perfect venue! If you are looking for a venue that is private, historical, outdoors, and gives you the flexibility to be creative with your wedding vision, this place is for you! The Darlington House is located near...
many hotels to accommodate your gusts who are traveling and for your wedding party to stay for the big weekend, and is close to Windansea beach if you want to sneak away during cocktail hour for some additional wedding photos. The mansion has a variety of patios and space that can be fully utilized throughout the entire wedding. There many lovely details in the design and decor such as the marble columns and rose bushes that add to the romantic setting. The venue also provides a list of preferred vendors that helps with the planning process if you are starting from scratch and are unsure who to work with. We loved that their mission is to serve low income seniors and that all proceeds from the venue goes back into the community it serves as well! If you are concerned with the early noise curfew, there are many local bars nearby to continue to wedding festivities afterwards.
Response from the Vendor on 12/16/2021
Thank you so much for your kind words, Heather! We are so happy to hear that you had a wonderful time celebrating at Darlington House. :)
3 days after our wedding I am still reminiscing about this venue. The venue and house is gorgeous as it is, fill it to life with florals, linens, tables, decor and a full crowd and market lighting and it takes on a whole new mesmerizing life. B...
y far the best venue we looked at. If you’re looking to party late into the night the 9:30pm cut off won’t be super favorable, but we started our ceremony at 3pm and it was plenty of time for us and our guests!
There is so much to look at. People commented frequently about how much they loved the venue and how convenient it was. We used all spaces and felt it was the perfect size for our 111 guests!
The staff was incredible and not invasive at all-there are some rules (no red wine in the house, etc.) but that won’t take away from the experience-the main reason to be inside is the bathroom or to sit on a couch and take a moment to rest or listen to someone playing their piano! :)
My pro tip-use one of their approved day of coordinators-they know the venue inside and out and are wonderful!
The venue was incredible and came together so well. The grounds were really well kept and everyone kept remarking about how lovely it was.
The venue itself, is absolutely beautiful! We were beyond pleased with it.
We had our wedding ceremony and reception at the Darlington House in September and are SO happy we picked this venue! It is special, unique, and gorgeous. The layout with its several courtyards outside and rooms inside makes for a really fun ex...
perience for guests. All areas are beautiful as they are, which means you don't need to do a lot in terms of decorating or floral - there are a ton of amazing options for photos too! Darlington House is perfectly and centrally located in La Jolla which is great if you have guests traveling in from out of town - it's an easily walkable area with lots to do. You're also only a few blocks from the beach if you want to sneak out for a few minutes on your wedding day to take pictures there. Street parking is limited - Darlington House partners with a valet company which we initially didn't think was necessary but are so glad we used them, no one was late due to trouble finding parking. We had about 160 guests and fit in the venue very comfortably. With a wedding of that size, you'll likely need to use the same space for the ceremony and reception, which means you'll need to plan for about a 1.5 hour cocktail to make the flip.
Darlington House for our wedding was the best place we could have picked in San Diego. It's beautiful, intimate, but still plenty of space for everything that needs to happen on a wedding day. The different spaces around the house made everyt...
hing run smooth, and allowed everything to feel like it was this perfectly sized party at your own house (granted it's much nicer than our own house). Being the only event for the day at the venue was something we didn't know we were looking for at first, but it made the day feel even more special, without guests needing to ask which party was ours or where to go. The little details like the painted accent tiles, the beautiful gardens and the gorgeous interiors really made this the obvious option for us. We couldn't be happier with the way our day went at Darlington House, and recommend anybody else hold their wedding there too! Plus your fees go to help out the neighboring elderly home too, so there's an even better added benefit.
Love, love, love Darlington House! It was the perfect setting for our wedding and can't recommend it enough.
Intimate and unique: We had 125 guests at our wedding on August 18 and the venue was a perfect size and fit for the elegant, intimate...
and warm wedding we envisioned. I didn't want the typical hotel ballroom wedding - this venue is the complete opposite, TONS of character! We planned each portion of our wedding in different areas of the venue so there was a beautiful flow and our guests loved moving from area to area.
Awesome photos: this venue has so many gorgeous backdrops that you will have such a great variety of photos. The beach is super close by so you can walk there during golden hour with your photographer and snap some awesome pictures.
Staff: Carly was super accommodating with many of our requests and my frazzled bride emails, thank you, Carly!
Don't let the 930pm end time put you off - we started early (3pm invite time) and six hours of event time was more than enough. We didn't feel rushed. We also had a Sunday wedding so that probably helped. We had an afterparty booked nearby and it was the perfect ending (if you need recs, just message me. I researched every option in La Jolla!).
Yes, the venue doesn't come with anything so you must bring in everything yourself BUT it's an opportunity to customize it exactly how you like it (trust me, you would end up upgrading chairs and what not and paying more at a hotel anyway) and all the wedding vendors in the area have worked there so they will know what to do. Ashley with Always Flawless Productions was our planner and she was amazing as she's planned so many weddings there, highly recommend her!
Cherry on top: it's a nonprofit, so your venue costs are going towards a good cause.
Thank you, Darlington House, for a beautiful, magical day!
Response from the Vendor on 11/02/2021
Thank you so much for your kind words, Lauren! We are absolutely delighted that you chose Darlington House as your wedding venue, and thrilled that you had such a wonderful time.
Gorgeous location! Could not have dreamed of a better spot to have my ceremony and reception. Carly was amazing to work with and helped answer any questions we had. Definitely recommend Darlington House!
Darlington House was my fiance and my first choice for our wedding ceremony and reception and we could not have been more pleased with celebrating such a big moment in our lives at a more beautiful venue. Carly was very helpful throughout the e...
ntire planning process. Darlington House is the most amazing venue full of the most incredible details, and the privacy of the venue cannot be unmatched. This venue truly made our wedding day so much more special and we loved every second spent in the venue. 10/10 stars!
First of all, we would like to thank Darlington House and management especially Carly who helped us from the first day of tour until the wedding day! It was a love at first sight when my husband and I first saw Darlington House. The venue was v...
ery beautiful with a touch of class! We held our wedding reception for 5 hours. Brides, I highly recommend this venue!!! It's not the usual, ordinary "hall" wedding reception. We didn't have to put so much decoration (which is a A++++ SAVES YOUR BUDGET!!) just because the venue itself is more than enough. The architecture of the house is so classic!! It's been a week but our guests still couldn't get over of how beautiful the place was. They all love the venue, they couldn't stop taking pictures and videos. I also highly recommend this place just because, you'll surely have a beautiful and elegant wedding portrait photos with your groom.
Very pretty & elegant
There aren't enough good things to say about the Darlington House. I had a March wedding with an unexpected rain forecast. Even with a clean tent the venue still was beautiful. My out of town guests loved the proximity to La Jolla hotels. ...
The Darlington House impresses all ages, it is a beautiful and well maintained home with stunning gardens. It will make any wedding - regardless of budget - a memorable event.
Wow. Just wow! The Darlington House is beyond wonderful. My husband and I had an intimate wedding (50 guests) and it was truly the most magical day. The Darlington House provided to perfect atmosphere for everyone to feel at home yet like they ...
were part of an upscale event! The layout of The Darlington House is unique and makes each aspect of the day special. We began our ceremony in one area under beautiful arches, then our guests were escorted to a gorgeous patio that is connected to the library (where we set up the bar) for cocktail hour. During dinner & reception our guests were taken to yet another beautiful area to eat and have fun! All of these spaces are connected by just a few steps. The wedding party utilized the upstairs bedrooms which are so elegant! We truly felt like royalty. Every single guest approached us at some point in the night, raving about how beautiful our venue was. My husband and I were absolutely blown away by the space. It felt like a fairytale!! Thank you Carly, and all of The Darlington House staff, who helped make our day perfect in every way.
This is such an amazing venue. My husband and I fell in love the second we saw this venue. I was soo happy it was available for my wedding date. The getting ready rooms are really nice and the grounds made for awesome photos. It was the perfect...
venue for our guest and again I LOVED this venue. We even took a short drive to the beach to get beach photos!!
I fell in love with Darlington House when I first saw it online and immediately knew that is where I wanted our wedding to be. Everything was seamless up until we began getting asked for things that were not in our contract. We signed our contr...
act in 2017 for a 2018 wedding, and I believe that we should be held to the 2017 rules. Carly, asked us to provide certificates of insurance for each vendor and for our coordinator, we needed letters of recommendation because she was not a "preferred vendor". This extra stuff that we didn't know about caused me to be stressed about contacting all the vendors and trying to find the time to get everything sent over to her. Also, you are required to use a preferred vendor for catering. Take it from me...DO NOT USE PERSONAL TOUCH!!! They were awful!!!
Response from the Vendor on 04/26/2018
Sarah, we know that planning a wedding can be a stressful time and are sorry to hear that changes to our vendor requirements may have added to your worry. Our goal in adding this requirement was to ensure that our venue was meeting industry st...
andards for the safety and security of you and your guests. We are always happy to help out by speaking with vendors directly and wish we would have known that you needed this help.
The Darlington House is simply stunning. We knew how beautiful it was from our walk throughs, but seeing all of our guests there enjoying the amazing space was even more beautiful than we could have imagined. The staff - especially Carly - wer...
e great to work with and were so helpful and accommodating. Don't be intimidated by the need to bring in all vendors - they provide great recommendations and it's a fun opportunity to customize your event to your preferences. Added bonus - the fee charged goes toward the La Jolla Social Service League which provides housing for low income seniors. Can't recommend this venue enough!
When we started looking we visited the Darlington house and loved it for a romantic garden wedding, the venue had lots of charm but turned out to be overpriced and inconvenient. The day of the wedding we noticed the upkeep was poor the rose gar...
den wasn't much of a garden and the fountain was dirty and looked old. Parking For guest is a struggle, valet parking is almost a requirement if you want guest to be on time. The office hours aren't flexible and the response time from our docent was poor. its an empty venue you bring everything from lighting to heaters and tents they provide nothing for you except for a rude girl that will not acknowledge you when you ask questions regarding the suites upstairs. I paid $17,000 over all, that's more than most all-inclusive clubs offer with half the stress. I did give this venue 3 stars because the place was nice.
My husband and I absolutely fell in love with the Darlington House when we visited in summer 2014, and booked our October 2015 wedding on the spot. It is such a classy venue that has historic charm and the backyard wedding feel we wanted. I lov...
e that you have access to the whole house, it made for beautiful details in every corner and provided a great flow between cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing.
The one "downside" is that music has to be off by 10 pm since it's in a residental neighborhood, but we actually didn't mind calling it a night on the early side. It left people wanting more rather than getting bored! We went ahead and paid for 2 extra hours of time beyond the usual booking so that our cocktail hour could start without a large gap after our ceremony (at USD).
Our guests are still raving about how gorgeous the reception was, and the photos are amazing. The staff was very helpful throughout the planning process and made sure everything was squared away. I would absolutely recommend the Darlington House to anyone wanting to have a classy, intimate outdoor reception. We pretty much maxed out the capacity with 175 guests, so that amount or less is ideal for this venue.
I had a special attachment to this venue as my parents were married there 31 years ago. The venue is wonderfully maintained and needs very little to make it look wedding ready.
The staff is extremely helpful and responsive. They do their...
best to make your experience as special as possible.
The only downside is that you must be out of the venue by 9:30pm on the dot. We decided to host an after party to keep the night going. You also have to pay $150 per hour to use the bridal suite if you want it more than 2 hours before the event start time. Other than that it's a wonderful place to get married and I would highly recommend taking the time to view the venue!
Rebecca at the Darlington House was nothing but helpful during the entire process and all turned out AMAZING for our special day. I would recommend this venue to any engaged couple. The staff is helpful and the venue is gorgeous! We received so...
many compliments for choosing this venue!
Response from the Vendor on 05/07/2015
Thank you so much for your kind words about Darlington House and our staff! We appreciate it and are thankful you selected Darlington House to celebrate your special day!
Best wishes to you and Matthew!
-Your Darlington House Team
The Darlington House is undoubtedly beautiful and has so much character and history. We wanted an intimate, classy but not stuffy wedding and reception, and it was exactly that. We had so many guests tell us that our wedding was the best they'v...
e ever been to, and I owe a lot of that to the ambiance and beauty of Darlington.
That's not to say that there weren't downsides: we had to stop the music around 9:30pm and start ushering guests out at that time due to the noise ordinance (San Diego County has a 10pm shut off time for music for outdoor events) and because it's right next to the retirement home (this is what your payment for the space helps fund). Also, while some staff were nice throughout the process, others were downright unpleasant. They are VERY strict and our wedding coordinators were locked out of the house at 10pm on the dot! They were absolutely unyielding. They also have other rules in the contract about no red wine inside the house, which is reasonable for a historic home. Just be sure to follow the rules because they very much hold you to every single detail in the contract.
Overall, we have no regrets and loved having our ceremony and reception there.
All the staff at the Darlington House were very friendly, forthcoming with information, organized and helpful. It was a pleasure to work with them. The venue is gorgeous and they maintain the house and gardens in pristine shape so it looks sp...
ectacular on your wedding day.
The Darlington House was an amazing venue for our wedding reception! Both the inside and outside portion of the venue were absolutely beautiful! Everyone that we worked with at the Darlington House were very pleasant and helpful! We could not h...
ave asked for a more beautiful evening!
This place is amazingly beautiful and all of my guests were impress. The only reason I deduct a star is because we did an evening wedding and you have to shut down everything at 9:30pm. That isn't so bad but you have to have everything out by ...
10pm...no excuses. We were all having such a good time and lingering a bit and were literally asked by the staff to leave. It was kind of a drag.
Very personal and gorgeous setting. Have to leave by 10am due to noise in violations and they will charge you if you run over. All in all great wedding venue, vintage fell, something different than just another hotel wedding! And you are in ...
La Jolla, can't beat that.
We had our wedding reception at the Darlington House and loved it!! It's beautiful, with the intimate feeling of being at someone's house and amazing outdoor patio spaces.
We got lucky with a cancellation, otherwise they are booked all year yo...
u need to reserve a date over a year ahead of time.
I would recommend the Darlington House to every bride!
I cannot even begin to describe the unique setting. First of all you feel as if you are walking into someone's mediteranean home the decor and architecture is amazing. The house opens up into 3 different ajoining courtyards which have beatufiu...
l flowers fountains citrus trees tiles and arch ways. Everyone loved the setting and the romantic charm of the Darlington House.;the only draw back of the location is the noise restrictions of the neighborhood you absolutely have to be out of the site by 10pm so you wanted a late night party this wouldn't be the place.
Plenty of space for guests to walk around. Beautiful architecture and landscaping. Blocks away from beautiful beach for pictures.
It was historic and it had its own story. It was this beautiful mansion with amazing gardens on the grounds which fit with our spring time wedding. I loved it because it was unique and it was not just another hotel ballroom. My wedding...
was beautiful there!;The ceremony site can only fit about 110 chairs. I was promised we could fit 150-160 so alot of my guest had to stand. I was upset that they lied to me about it. The whole reason I asked was because I wanted to make sure there would be enough space or we might have considered another location.
Contact Info for Darlington House
7441 Olivetas Ave, La Jolla, CA
Meet the Team
Carly Wickham-Stickler
Manager
Hello! My name is Carly and I am the Darlington House Venue Manager.
I love introducing our historic home and gardens to wedding couples, a place that I fell in love with as a wedding guest in 2000. Darlington House is a beautiful, serene and intimate jewel in the heart of La Jolla that can be customized to fit your wedding vision. Our venue is part of a non-profit organization, Social Service League of La Jolla. All wedding proceeds serve our mission of providing affordable housing to San Diego senior citizens. A beautiful dream day and a chance to give back? Sounds like a perfect marriage!
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Darlington House