Gardens
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Estate Overview
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French Parterre
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Rose Garden
Lunar Lawn
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Japanese-Style Garden
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Greenhouses
Cutting Garden
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Other Points of Interest
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Seasonal Interest
 Main Drive
Guests of Marjorie Merriweather Post’s entered Hillwood through
gilded gates and traveled on a winding drive past terraced banks of
flowering trees and shrubs, and under towering shade trees and conifers
to reach the main entrance to the mansion that is protected
under a Porte Cochère. Enclosed within brick walls covered with vines
and faced with azaleas, the motor court features a statue of Eros, god
of love, centered in an elliptical bed of turf and ringed with a garland
of English ivy capped with arrows of variegated English boxwood.
Putting Green
Marjorie Merriweather Post and her guests enjoyed afternoons of leisurely
exercise on this nine-hole putting green below the south wall of the
rose garden. Constructed of a fine bentgrass turf, the garden was set
with cups and pins and was enclosed in a hedge of Japanese hollies to
keep renegade golf balls from rolling off the green. A filled putter
rack on the upper terrace provided a place for guests to "tee off,"
while the terrace below offered a focal point and an additional resting
place.
Friendship Walk
Four of Marjorie Merriweather Post’s closest friends conceived
of this gift in honor of her civic philanthropy. They worked closely
with Perry Wheeler, a Washington landscape architect, and Mrs. Post’s
head gardener to design a garden that was worthy of her generosity
to others. The theme of the garden – "Friendship outstays
the hurrying flight of years and aye abides through laughter and through
tears" – was inspired by a 1909 postcard written by Alexandra,
the last empress of Russia, to her good friend, Countess Anna Vrubova.
That inscription, carved in Italian serpentine marble stone, marks
the terrace end of the walk. In October 1957, Mrs. Post and her friends
gathered for a dedication ceremony, as their gifts of sculpture and
statuary were presented here.
Dacha
This
version of a single-room Russian country retreat was the second dacha
Marjorie Merriweather Post had constructed in Washington. The first
was built at her former estate, Tregaron, as a library and study for
her husband, Ambassador Joseph Davies. Built in 1969 to house a collection
of Russian art, the dacha is located on one of the focal points of
the rhododendron walk that encircles the Lunar Lawn. Constructed of
California redwood that was stained and shaped to replicate logs,
the windows and door frames of the cottage are embellished with polychrome
carving, and small onion-dome finials top the slate roof. Mature trees
and woodland plantings provide a tranquil atmosphere for this peaceful
area
Pet Cemetery
Commemorating the years of pleasure garnered from her pets, Marjorie
Merriweather Post built this cemetery where the closely wooded site
offers a private place for remembrance. The garden features markers
bearing the names of each pet. Each marker is set in beds of plants
that emulate the mood of the garden, such as weeping dogwood, lily-of-the-valley,
bleeding heart, dogtooth violet, and forget-me-nots. Four statues
of dogs offering a gift of flower baskets are located in each corner
of the cemetery entrance.
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