Love Letter to Washington, D.C. 4th of July. Page 2.

Hidden in the Forest Hills neighborhood, NW, overlooking the green pastures of Rock Creek Park, there is a treasure trove of French and Russian decorative art in Washington, D.C., known as Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. The contemplative beauty of it lies in the background story that would sound gauche both in French and in Russian, but in reality works splendidly to defy Old World stereotypes, as any story of the great American spirit always does. An heiress to a cereal fortune, whose father invented a coffee substitute, a four-time divorcee, a queen of frozen foods, traveling to Europe and buying away valuables, formerly belonging to the noble victims of bloody revolutions and state terror… Yet History works in inscrutable ways… Marjorie Merriweather Post, awarded Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur for building field hospitals in France during WWI and the Silver Fawn Award by the Boy Scouts of America, made generous donations to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center. After she died of cardiac arrest at Hillwood at the age of 86 in 1973, the estate was transformed into a museum according to her will, and opened its [French double] doors to the public in 1977. The Georgian-style mansion, originally built in the 1920s, has a “motor court” at the front, from where visitors step into a two-story high Entrance Hall, lavishly decorated with Russian imperial portraiture, including a full-length portrait of Catherine the Great in full regalia, Louis XVI furnishings, and statuary. The French Drawing Room holds tapestries, Sevres porcelain, and tiny tables with inlaid and gilded accents. The Russian Porcelain Room, the Icon Room, and the Russian Liturgical Gallery are stocked with Faberge eggs, religious artifacts, precious diamond-incrusted knick-knacks, and royal tea services, sold out in the name of the Great Communist Industrialization. (In the midst of Stalin’s purges of 1937-38 that killed or sent to Gulag some 40 milllion “public enemies,” the confiscated treasures of the former empire, church, and private sector were offered for quick sale to foreigners, and Mrs. Post happened to be in Moscow at the time with her third husband, Ambassador Davies)… The Pavilion, the largest room in the mansion, was added in the process of renovations, right after Mrs. Post bought the estate in 1955. It is decorated with the paintings of two famous Russian 19th century artists – Karl Briullov and Konstantin Makovskii. The library boasts a research collection of over 30,000 volumes on Russian and French art and 13,000 auction-house catalogues. A number of other rooms contain portraits of Mrs. Post and her family members, their household items, more French porcelain, precious rugs, curtains, rock crystal chandeliers, and more breathtaking objects of Arts Decoratifs, thoughtfully collected (with the help of most notable curators) and preserved for future generations of Americans. The Gardens are a marvel of landscaping, sculpture, and architecture, and a wonderfully enjoyable place to spend a day. There are several distinct areas of the Gardens, none to be missed: French Parterre, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Greenhouse, chockfull of orchids, and Pet Cemetery – the final resting place of Mrs. Post’s many beloved little dogs. Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens is located at 4155 Linnean Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. Call 202-686-5807 or visit www.HillwoodMuseum.org for more information. Photography by Yuri Krasov. 1. Hillwood Estate. 2. In the Gardens. 3. Pet Cemetery.