Edwin Percy Gamble, the youngest son of the co-founder of Procter & Gamble, moved to Palo Alto in 1902. His daughter Elizabeth lived in the Waverley Street house all her life, and her gardens became known throughout the town.
She left the house and garden to the city at her death in 1981. The Garden Club of Palo Alto led a campaign to restore it, and since 1985 it has been a public garden run by a non-profit foundation, with more than 300 volunteers and a popular spring garden tour.