Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
Hillwood Estate
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 Location within Washington, D.C.
Location within Washington, D.C.
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| Established | 1973 |
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| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°56′37″N 77°03′09″W / 38.9437°N 77.0526°W |
| Type | Decorative Arts |
| Director | Kate Markert |
| Public transit access |
 Van Ness–UDC
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| Website | Official website |
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 Hillwood Estate - Museum and Garden is a Top DC Attraction, Wanda Kaluza |
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens is a decorative arts museum in Washington, D.C., United States. The former residence of businesswoman, socialite, philanthropist and collector Marjorie Merriweather Post, Hillwood is known for its large decorative arts collection that focuses heavily on the House of Romanov. Included in the collection are Fabergé eggs and 18th and 19th century French art and one of the country's finest orchid collections.
As she arranged her divorce from her third husband, Joseph E. Davies, Post initiated a search for a new house. She wanted a stately home with fifteen-foot ceilings, sited on a large, thickly wooded spot. After the divorce was final, she bought Arbremont, a Georgian Colonial estate in northwest Washington on the edge of Rock Creek Park, rechristening it Hillwood, a name she had also used for her former property in Brookville, Long Island.
Arbremont, with its 36 rooms, had been built in the 1920s by Mrs. Delos A. Blodgett for her daughter, Helen Blodgett Erwin. After Post acquired it from the Erwins, she hired the architect Alexander McIlvaine to gut and rebuild its interior. The renovations, which included moving the library doors to frame a view of the Washington Monument, were completed in 1956. Showcasing her collections including French, Asian and what Hillwood is most known for - Russian art and religious objects.
During her marriage with Davies, who served as the second Ambassador to the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s, she acquired a vast collection of objects from the pre-Bolshevik Russia, including a chandelier from the Catherine Palace that hung in her breakfast nook, and Fabergé art works including the Twelve Monograms Easter egg. Post had her first guests to the house in May 1957 and hosted her first big party there on July 7, 1957. Hillwood quickly gained a reputation as one of Washington's "most extraordinary estates".
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Wikipedia