Hillwood Estate and Gardens

The weather was so nice last weekend and so on Sunday we decided to go downtown to visit the Hillwood Estate and Gardens,  former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, who was the heiress to the Post cereal fortune. Her estate is in northwest DC and overlooks Rock Creek Park. It's really an oasis in the middle of the city, with lots of gardens--a French parterre, a rose garden, a cutting garden, a Japanese style garden, and lots of woods, as well as the mansion and a greenhouse.  Mrs. Post lived there for over 20 years and decorated the house with French and Russian furnishings and fine arts. Several rooms in the house are devoted to her various collections, including lots of porcelain dishware and Russian Faberge eggs.

We really enjoyed touring the house--you could really imagine life in that house, unlike a lot of historical houses that I have visited.  It was fun to read about all the famous people who she entertained in her home. Mrs. Post died at Hillwood in 1973.

Rose garden

Cutting Garden

Greenhouse

Orchids

Love these ivy covered archways

And inside the house--the dining room was pretty impressive. The table can seat more than 30 people. The floors in the house were beautiful.

The kitchen was pretty amazing too, so well stocked with all the conveniences of a 1950s kitchen. I liked the green butler's pantry too.

This was just a small selection of her china collection. There were rooms filled with decorative objects like this.  She had all the cabinets custom built to showcase her collection.

French porcelain

I loved the view of the French parterre garden from an upstairs bedroom window.

All the French porcelain and Faberge eggs were nice, but the best collection was in Mrs. Post's closet--her favorite shoes!  She liked them so much  that she bought them in all colors. I like them too!