DELIGHTFUL SPRING TOUR OF HILLWOOD ESTATE & GARDENS
A group of 10 AMHS members had made plans to spend a nice spring day at Hillwood Estate & Gardens overlooking Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. Well, April 3 turned out to be a cold, windy day but nevertheless we had a wonderful time visiting the beautiful Hillwood mansion and gardens. The mansion itself features grand staircases, rock crystal chandeliers, and built-in lighted cases filled with treasures. Hillwood is especially known for its collection of Russian and French art objects.
Our Russian tour guide, Marina, was very knowledgeable about the Russian art objects, starting with the oval portrait of Empress Catherine the Great, which looked like a painting but was actually a tapestry. We saw the beautiful Russian icons, the stunning large chalice made with gold and precious stones, the priceless Faberge eggs, and so much more. Around every corner there were beautiful pieces of jewelry, porcelain china pieces in a beautiful shade of blue known as “heavenly blue” (bleu celeste) and antique furniture such as the carved roll-up desk which served as a dressing table and a safe with hidden compartments.
We also learned quite a bit about Hillwood’s owner, Marjorie Merriweather Post, an heiress in her own right who married four rich men. She had a special affinity for French and Russian art, and during her time in the Soviet Union when her husband was the U.S. ambassador, she rescued many precious art objects that the Soviets had removed from churches and palaces. She managed to acquire many pieces which the Soviets had planned to melt down if they could not sell them quickly.
We learned that Marjorie Merriweather Post intended all along to make Hillwood a museum and she hired a well-known curator to help her. And in addition to being beautiful, elegant and rich, we learned she was also a kind person who for example, after one of her famous dinner parties, would go back in the kitchen to personally thank the cooks and servers. We did not have a chance to spend much time in the greenhouse or gardens, but we did learn that the gardens were designed with the help of an Italian landscape architect, Umberto Innocenti. We think a return trip is in our future because we truly enjoyed the beauty and serenity of Hillwood.