work on the garden started in 1902 and ended in 1908, two years after it was opened to the public. during hara's own lifetime, the place became an aggregation point for meiji period artists. world war ii caused great damage to the buildings. in 1953 the garden was donated by the hara family to the city of yokohama, which created the sankeien hoshōkai foundation for its repair and maintenance. the foundation started the restoration in 1953 and, five years later, the garden was back almost to its original form and reopened to the public.