Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens was purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1955. Her estate endowed the country with the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia, including over 400 chalices and a collection of Faberge that includes an Imperial Easter Egg. The 18th century decorative art collections include extensive French furniture and many exquisite sets and pieces of Sevres Porcelain. The dining room table, commissioned in 1927, was originally designed for Mar-a-Lago, the lavish Palm Beach estate Post built with her second husband, E.F. Hutton. The table, made in Florence Italy, seats thirty and has a mosaic top containing eleven different stones.
Tour participants will be able to wander through Hillwood’s superb setting which has 25 acres of landscaped gardens, water features, natural woodlands, and a greenhouse filled with orchids. Participants will receive tours of the mansion and of the gardens, and will enjoy a catered lunch in the CW Post Room, adjacent to the Café. There will also be a chance to view the current exhibition
Catherine the Great’s Art Patronage.
Maximum Participants: 54
Fee: $70, includes lunch
Accessibility: Walking, some benches, limited seating on tours. Stairs, ramps, and hilly sections, not rigorous.
Transportation: Transportation will be by bus. Loading and unloading takes place at the hotel’s 10th Street NW entrance, on 10th Street NW between H Street NW and G Street NW. The bus for this tour will leave at 9:45am. Please meet the tour shepherd near the 10th street hotel entrance 15 minutes prior to departure.
