Until 2027, Sherman Gardens Runs on Its Calendar, Not Its Lunch Hour

When did you last walk into Sherman Library & Gardens from Pacific Coast Highway? If it was before the construction started, the route has changed. The entrance has moved around the corner to Dahlia Avenue, and the tables where Corona del Mar used to linger over lunch are gone for now. The gardens remain open daily, while some areas stay fenced off and construction noise drifts across the paths.

That changes what a visit is for. For roughly the next year, Sherman works best as a place you go for something scheduled. A walk-in afternoon is less of a draw. November and December put most of those scheduled things into about six weeks.

The Front Door Moved Around the Corner

Sherman broke ground on its "Grow The Gardens" project on February 26, 2026. When the project was announced, it was expected to take 18 months, with completion in late summer 2027. The new main entrance, with a bell tower and wrought iron fencing, is being built along PCH. Until it opens, visitors enter on Dahlia Avenue, as the Orange County Register reported in April.

The practical details are on Sherman's Plan Your Visit page:

• Entrance: Dahlia Avenue, marked with signs. It is also the designated accessible entrance.
• Parking: Lot A sits at Dahlia Ave. and Pacific Coast Highway, and Lot B at Dahlia Ave. and 3rd Avenue. Both are free, and accessible parking is in Lot A.
• Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The gardens close Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
• Admission: $12 for adults, $5 for children 4 to 17, and free for ages 3 and under.

The library gallery keeps the same daytime hours but may close for classes or events. Sherman asks visitors to call ahead at (949) 673-2261, ext. 304, if the gallery is the reason for the trip.

About Half the Garden Is Changing

Executive Director Scott LaFleur put the size of the project plainly in the same Register story: "About 50% of the garden is getting a little bit of a remake and kind of updated for today's uses and guest experience." The list of work is long. It covers the Bell Tower Entrance, the ticket booth, the visitor center, the Central Garden walkway, a new Reflection Garden, the Tropical Conservatory, the Shade House, the Sun Garden, Story Time Corner, the Tea Garden and the patio terrace.

Staff planned for the fences. In April, LaFleur described "micro engagements" meant to keep people lingering through the construction. One is an orchid alley set up while the conservatory is closed, alongside part of the begonia collection. Another is a train display around the garden's large pepper tree that changes with each season. He also pointed visitors to the Central Garden, Fern Alley and the succulent garden.

That tour dates from spring, and building sites move. Sherman's own current notice still says some areas are temporarily closed. Its garden map is the best guide to what you can walk through on a given day.

No Lunch Service Means the Calendar Does the Work

Losing the restaurant changes the visit more than any fence does. "Regular dining services are not currently available on-site," Sherman's visit page says. For years the gardens had a full-service lunch restaurant five days a week, inside the grounds. Without it, a casual midday stop is shorter. Scheduled events are now the strongest reason to come.

Sherman ran pop-up afternoon teas under the name of its future restaurant, Hazeltine's, through the fall. The Hazeltine's site lists no tea dates after October 18, and that seating sold out. So November and December rely on the event calendar, which is fuller than usual:

The floral workshop on November 25 is the day before Thanksgiving, when the gardens are closed. That makes it the last chance to get a centerpiece made on the grounds before the holiday.

November 14 Is the Low-Cost Way In

The Sherman Sowers Gift Faire is the November event that costs nothing to attend. Garden admission is free all day on Saturday, November 14. The handmade gifts on sale are made by the Sherman Sowers, a volunteer group, and all proceeds go to Sherman Library & Gardens. Members get 15% off their purchases. Members also get the first look on Friday, November 13, from 3 to 7 p.m.

With the gate free that Saturday, it is also a good day to see how far the construction has come without paying admission. Bring someone who hasn't visited since the entrance moved.

Merry & Bright Nights Has Its Own Rules

Sherman's holiday light event has the most moving parts. These details come from Sherman's own ticket page, which some third-party event listings don't match:

• Nights: December 3 to 6, December 10 to 13 and December 17 to 22, for 14 nights in all.
• Entry: Timed tickets for 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. The event runs from 5 to 9 p.m.
• Price: $45 for Sherman members and $65 for nonmembers. Children 3 and under are free.
• Length: Plan on about an hour to an hour and a half, and arrive close to your entry time.
• Weather: The event goes ahead rain or shine.
• Daytime visits: A Merry & Bright ticket does not include daytime garden entry.
• Parking: The Dahlia lots are first-come, first-served, and street parking is also available.

The evening includes lights, music, Santa, crafts, a model train, food and a dance party. The garden shop stays open during the event. In late October, the opening night of December 3 already showed as sold out, so the early December dates are the ones to book first.

December 6 Brings the Village Together

One date ties Sherman to the rest of Corona del Mar. The 47th Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk runs Sunday, December 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free and runs along the village's PCH sidewalks, with music, Santa, vendors, children's activities and merchant promotions. The walk ends at 5 p.m., the same hour Sherman's first Merry & Bright entry begins that night. With a 5 p.m. ticket, you can spend the afternoon on the walk and then head straight to the gardens from Dahlia Avenue.

The day has a down side, too. Both events draw crowds to the same stretch of highway, and the Dahlia lots are first-come, first-served on event nights. Anyone who lives within walking distance has an easy evening.

What the Fences Are Building Toward

Most of what changes in 2027 faces the street. The new restaurant, Hazeltine's, will take a fully rebuilt two-story building on Pacific Coast Highway with its own entrance from the sidewalk, overlooking a refurbished Tea Garden. It is named for Hazeltine, daughter of the gardens' namesake, Moses Hazeltine Sherman. It will serve brunch, lunch and dinner seven days a week, with a full-service bar. That is a big step up from the old five-day lunch service. Damian Orozco, owner of the Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano, will run it. Sherman's Hazeltine's page describes the design as "a Victorian Tea House walks into a Spanish Bar." The Daily Pilot covered the announcement in May. Sherman's restaurant page gives late summer 2027 as the opening. Its visit page says fall 2027, so treat either as an estimate.

The old restaurant space inside the gardens will become a year-round community building for classes, lectures and field trips. The new Reflection Garden, which LaFleur called the gardens' "first-ever garden" of its kind, will hold some of Sherman's dragon trees. Commemorative bricks can be bought and set into its paving. The campaign behind all of this had a $17 million goal. The Newport Beach Independent reported $16.6 million raised as of its March 2026 groundbreaking story.

Once the work is done, Sherman will have a restaurant open into the evening and a front door on PCH,, both facing the village from East Coast Highway.

At Ballesteros Group, we keep track of the places that set the rhythm of Coastal Orange County, from village holiday traditions to projects like this one along East Coast Highway. If you'd like to talk about what Sherman's 2027 return could mean for Corona del Mar, or simply compare notes after a night under the lights, Let's Connect.