project description

Marjorie Merriweather Post purchased Hillwood in 1955 and soon decided her house and gardens would become a museum to inspire and educate. Opened to the public in 1977, her northwest D.C. estate endowed the country with the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia, a distinguished 18th-century French decorative art collection, and 25 acres of serene landscaped gardens and natural woodlands. Hillwood’s spectacular gardens, originally designed by Umberto Innocenti and Richard Webel, include 13 acres of formal gardens that extend from the house’s terraces and porches in a progression of “outdoor rooms” meant to complement the mansion’s interior spaces. RAS led the renovation of the garden plantings and paving, and collaborated with the architectural and engineering firm EwingCole to enhance a courtyard space used for dining and special events.

Engineers: EwingCole
Image credit: Courtesy Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. ©Maxwell MacKenzie