The Gardens of Hillwood Estate

Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens is an elegant place brimming with style and history. The estate located in northwest Washington, D.C. was owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post. Her mansion has been transformed into a museum full of Russian and French art.

There are also thirteen acres of formal gardens that had been designed to compliment the interior spaces. She thought of them as outdoor rooms. 

Some of her outdoor rooms include the motor court, the lunar lawn, the putting green, the Japanese-style garden, the French parterre, the four seasons garden, the rose garden and her cutting garden.

The Motor Court

The Lunar Lawn

The Japanese-style Garden

"Designed by Shogo Myaida and clearly reflecting Marjorie Post’s love of collecting decorative objects, this non-traditional Japanese garden offers action and intrigue instead of opportunities for contemplative meditation found in other Japanese gardens. Well-placed stone lanterns, pagodas, symbolic animals, and statues with storied significance populate the various niches." -Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

"The plants provide interesting contrasts of color and texture. The delicate tracery of the reddish Japanese maple is juxtaposed with the evergreen white pine towering over it, the soft fat clumps of needles silhouetted against the sky.  Hundreds of carefully placed stones create a subtle structure that adds stability to the garden, while flowing water activates the senses of sight and sound."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

French Parterre

"Through one of the petite arched doorways, enter a world of European elegance and refinement. The French parterre—a formal garden with low intricate plantings divided by footpaths and surrounded by walls of English ivy—is designed to capture the feel of a small formal garden of the eighteenth century."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

"Echoing the classical symmetry and geometry typical of French garden design, the parterre is divided into four sections using gravel footpaths, channels of moving water, and a central pool lined with Italian glass tile."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

"The English boxwood hedges are pruned into scroll patterns inspired by sixteenth-century ironwork, recalling the decoration on many of the French pieces in the adjacent drawing room and providing a magical view from above."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

The Rose Garden

"In 1956 landscape architect Perry Wheeler, noted for helping to design the White House rose garden, adapted this space to Marjorie Post’s discerning taste. He kept the pergola, the stone steps leading to the putting green, and the round shape, and picked up the pergola’s brickwork in his intricate trademark paving."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

"In November 1974, a little over a year after her death, her ashes were placed in the base of the granite monument in the center of the garden. At the top is an antique urn carved from rare deep purple porphyry. The base bears Marjorie's coat of arms including the engraved Latin phrase, In me mea spes omnis which translates to, All my hopes rest in me."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Friendship Walk & Four Seasons Overlook

"A secret committee, including Frances Rosso, Lady Constance Lewis, and Sadie Pratt, devised Friendship Walk as a way to celebrate Marjorie’s seventieth birthday and honor her remarkable philanthropic contributions. With the help of her chief gardener and landscape architect Perry Wheeler, and with contributions by 181 friends, in November of 1957 the astonished heiress was led to a pair of gates off the rose garden."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

“Friendship outstays the hurrying flight of years and aye abides through laughter and through tears.” – Tsarina Alexandra Federovna, the last empress of Russia.

The Pet Cemetery

"The pet cemetery is a tranquil memorial to the pet dogs that Marjorie Post loved throughout her life. Plants include forget-me-nots, sweetbox and vinca ground cover."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Dacha & Walk To Cutting Garden

"Built in 1969 during the Cold War, the dacha represents a nostalgic view of Russian culture. Featuring some architectural elements of authentic Russian dachas, such as the whole-log construction and the intricate carvings, other details are American adaptations of Russian motifs—like the multiple bright colors or the onion-shaped domes on the roof, which are typical of Russian churches but not rustic homes."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

The Cutting Garden

"The types of flowers grown and used to decorate the mansion were traditional in formal arrangements of the 1950s and 60s."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

"Historic photographs determine the style and placement of the arrangements.  Photographs taken in the 1960s suggest that flowers were chosen to complement the dinner service and the season.  You’ll find that same level of attention given to them at Hillwood today."-Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

“When I began collecting, I did it for the joy of it, and it was only as the collection grew and such great interest was evidenced by others that I came to the realization that the collection should belong to the country.”-Marjorie Merriweather Post

I had such fun while touring Hillwood Estate. I especially loved the cutting garden. So many stunning varieties grown with the help of caring hands. Thank you for touring along with me. I'm already in the midst of planning my next trip. Make sure if you are in Washington D.C., you pop by for a visit! 

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