Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens: The Home of Marjorie Post

Come visit Hillwood Estate, one of many homes owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post. Nestled in the hills of Northwest Washington, D.C., it is an oasis only five miles from downtown Washington. A docent from Hillwood Estate will be your "virtual" guide as you explore this "mansion that became a museum."

Please note:  this is a special Zoom webinar.  Once you register below, please wait for a Zoom link that will be sent to you directly from Darien Library.

Marjorie Merriweather Post bought Hillwood in 1955 and soon decided her home would be a museum that would inspire and educate the public. Her northwest Washington, D.C. estate endowed the country with the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia, a distinguished eighteenth-century French decorative art collection, and twenty-five acres of serene landscaped gardens and natural woodlands for all to enjoy. Marjorie Post maintained strong ties to the eighteenth-century French decorating style that she developed in the 1920s, transferring much of this look to her new home at Hillwood in the mid-1950s. This did not keep her from updating her Georgian-style mansion with the most modern conveniences that money could buy.

You will journey through her final home to experience the elegant French drawing room, the efficient and “high-tech” kitchen and pantry, and the many personal touches that made Hillwood one of Washington’s most memorable homes. Opened as a public institution in 1977, today Hillwood's allure stems from the equally fascinating parts that make up the whole. 

Marjorie Merriweather Post valued beauty, elegance, and graciousness in her life and it is apparent to all who experience the exquisite gardens, collections, and estate she left for the public’s enjoyment. In all its splendor, Hillwood is the culmination of a lifetime in business, art collecting, philanthropy, and estate management that gave rise to her singular style and grace.

In Marjorie Post's words, "I want young Americans to see how someone lived in the twentieth century and how this person could collect works of art the way I have...I want to share this with the rest of the world."