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HILLWOOD
REOPENS HISTORIC JAPANESE-STYLE GARDEN
Garden
Tours part of 2002 National Cherry Blossom Festival
Washington, D.C. Hillwood Museum & Gardens, the former estate of
visionary collector, philanthropist, and businesswoman Marjorie
Merriweather Post (1887–1973), has completed a $2-million restoration
project of its Japanese-style garden, which will formally reopen to the
public Tuesday, April 2. Special preview tours of the garden will be
offered as part of the 2002 National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs
March 23 through April 8. Preview tours begin March 23. On April 26 and
27, Hillwood will present two days of activities for all ages that
highlight Japanese gardens and culture. The restoration project, which
began in March 2001, was one of the elements in an extensive ongoing
renovation and restoration campaign of the museum and grounds, and is
documented on the museum's web site.
As one of the country's premier house museums, Hillwood has the most
comprehensive collection of 18th- and 19th-century Russian imperial art
outside Russia, as well as one of the world's most important collections
of 18th-century French decorative arts.
In addition to the Japanese-style garden, the estate features
thirteen acres of natural woodlands and twelve acres of formal landscaped
gardens, including a circular rose garden; an expansive crescent-shaped
lunar lawn; a large cutting garden; a pet cemetery with small inscribed
tombstones; and the recently restored formal French Parterre.
All of the gardens at Hillwood were conceived during Mrs. Post's
lifetime to serve as outdoor extensions of the mansion's interiors and
to function as essential areas for entertaining and philanthropic events.
The Japanese-style garden was designed by Shogo J. Myaida
(1897–1989), a garden designer from Long Island, New York, in 1957, two
years after Mrs. Post's purchase of Hillwood. One of the earliest
Japanese-style gardens built in America after World War II, it was created
during a period of rediscovery of Japanese culture in America. Mr. Myaida
designed several Japanese-style gardens in this country. Hillwood's
stands as the finest example of his work of any remaining Myaida gardens.
The symbolic garden was conceived as a representation of a mountain
landscape in miniature, with a conscious determination on the part of the
designer to create a garden that would accommodate Mrs. Post's
sensibilities and that could be easily maintained by American gardeners.
Throughout the garden are a mix of ornaments and sculpture, as well
as a large lily pond, footbridges, and hundreds of plant and tree
specimens. Over the last few
decades, overgrowth, natural erosion, and weather-inflicted damage have
compromised the garden's original design, while outdated irrigation and
water filtration systems have contributed to the deterioration of the
grounds, waterfalls, and pond.
“Fully restoring Mrs. Post's Japanese-style garden to its original
condition was a fascinating challenge for Hillwood's board and staff.
As with the recently restored French Parterre, we were committed to
bringing the landscape back to its former appearance—as it was
originally designed for Mrs. Post,” said Frederick Fisher, Executive
Director, Hillwood Museum & Gardens. “We were very fortunate to have
assembled a superb team of consultants to help us with this
transformation.”
ZEN Associates, Inc., an environmental design firm based in Sudbury,
Massachusetts, was commissioned to research and analyze the conditions of
the Japanese-style garden and then produce a restoration plan for its
disassembly and reconstruction. The
firm's partners Shinichiro Abe and Peter White have earned a reputation
for excellence in the design and construction of contemporary and
traditional Japanese-style landscapes.
“ZEN Associates' design philosophy is a careful integration of
artistic decisions, technical execution, and respect for the naturally
occurring elements in the landscape,” said Shinichiro Abe, president and
founder of ZEN Associates.
“The Hillwood project was a unique assignment because we have shifted
our approach to be more objective. Through research, analysis, and a cultivated understanding of
Mrs. Post's vision, we determined a methodology for restoring the garden
to its original splendor, as it was seen in the early 1960s,” added ZEN
Associates partner Peter White.
ZEN Associates began its archival research and analysis of the garden
in 1997. The goal was to
compile information for restoring the garden to its prime condition.
Years of alterations were examined and every element in the garden
was documented. The most critical problem was determined to be the
deterioration of the large lower pond, which is the focal point of the
garden. Findings from this
preliminary phase determined ZEN Associates' strategy for developing a
master plan for the garden's restoration, which entails three
phases—assessment, disassembly, and reconstruction.
The entire project is expected to be completed by the spring of
2002.
Denis Gray, former horticulture consultant for the Japanese-style
garden restoration at Hillwood Museum & Gardens, worked with ZEN
Associates throughout all phases of the project.
Gray most recently served as Horticulturist at Gunston Hall
Plantation, in Mason Neck, Virginia, overseeing 550 acres of plantation
grounds and formal gardens.
During the first phase of implementation, ZEN Associates analyzed and
catalogued the condition of the entire garden, including approximately 500
rocks, 200 plants and trees, and numerous garden ornaments, lanterns,
footbridges, and gateways.
The second phase included the removal of existing vegetation and
dismantling of the extensive arrangement of boulders. Many of the
plantings were temporarily relocated on Hillwood's property. Throughout this phase, special attention was given to the
precise arrangement of the stones and plant material prior to their
removal, ensuring the faithful reconstruction of the original design.
After the garden was disassembled, the structural shell and outdated
irrigation systems were replaced, marking the beginning of the third and
final phase. With the
structural system in place, ZEN Associates then replaced the boulders and
stone arrangements to the exact specifications recorded in their research
and extensive photo documentation. After
this two-month process, ZEN Associates reinstalled the numerous garden
ornaments, sculptures, and footbridges with a fresh layer of soil, and
restored the preserved plantings and tree specimens to their original
locations.
ZEN Associates
ZEN Associates was founded in 1980 by Shinichiro Abe, who earned a
master's degree in landscape architecture from Harvard University and a
bachelor's degree in agriculture from Tokyo University.
Prior to his arrival in the U.S., Mr. Abe served as an apprentice,
restoring and reconstructing prominent temple gardens in Kyoto and
throughout Japan. Partner
Peter White, who joined ZEN Associates in 1990, previously worked for the
Architects Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts and for
Environmental Design and Research (EDR) in Syracuse, New York, where he
also received his bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from
Syracuse University.
The firm's current and recent projects include the Peace Bell Garden
(1998–2000) at the United Nations, a
traditional Japanese garden promoting world peace that represents the
mythological universe, physical world, and the United Nation's flag; a
major five-acre Japanese Garden at the Omaha Botanical Gardens in
Nebraska, which was commissioned by Omaha's sister city of Shizuoka,
Japan, in celebration of thirty years of cross-cultural
exchange; and residential and corporate landscape design projects in
Spain, Stockholm, and along the eastern seaboard.
Hillwood
Hillwood Museum & Gardens is located at 4155
Linnean Avenue, in northwest Washington, D.C., overlooking Rock Creek
Park. The museum is open in
January and from March through December, Tuesdays through Saturdays, from
9 A.M.
to 5 P.M.,
and on select evenings and Sundays. Hillwood
is closed on all national holidays. Admission is by reservation only.
For general information call (202) 686-8500 or visit the museum
website at www.hillwoodmuseum.org.
For reservations call (202) 686-5807.
Hillwood Museum & Gardens is an accredited museum with the
American Association of Museums.
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