Enter the garden paradise of Marjorie Merriweather Post's Washington, D.C., estate in this first book on the history and design of the remarkable grounds.
A Garden for All Seasons captures Marjorie Post's garden landscape, set on twenty-five acres in Washington, D.C. Working with prominent landscape architects Umberto Innocenti, Richard Webel, and Perry Wheeler, Post envisioned a setting with a diverse and fascinating array of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, offering something to see in every season.
Thirteen acres of formal gardens extend from the house's terraces and porches in a progression of outdoor rooms. Each of these spaces, meant to complement the mansion's interior rooms, encourages an intuitive flow from the French parterre to the rose garden, onto the Friendship Walk and the vast Lunar Lawn, location of many of Post's legendary entertainments. Readers will find inspiration in the newly commissioned photography, while historic images bring context to the beautiful landscape. Although she was in residence at Hillwood only in the spring and fall, Post designed the gardens to flower in all seasons. Today, they are even more glorious all year round for the myriad visitors to the property.
"Although the beautiful Washington, D.C., estate of the heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post is temporarily closed, you can still wander its lush gardens in this gorgeous coffee-table book. Orchids bloom in the greenhouse, and fifteen rose cultivars wind through a fragrant garden awash in pink, red, white, and yellow blooms. Another note of loveliness: The beloved Virginia-based interior designer Charlotte Moss writes the foreword." —GARDEN & GUN
"While many visitors go to Hillwood to see the collections of Faberge eggs, Sevres porcelain, Russian Imperial and French decorative art, others go to see the 13 acres of formal gardens that will simply take your breath away, even in these times.But now, you can visit Hillwood in a new book by Hillwood's executive director, Kate Markert, in A Garden for All Seasons: Marjorie Merriweather Post's Hillwood(Rizzoli Electa, 2020).Markert takes you through the history of the gardens, including Post's collaborations with prominent landscape architects Innocenti & Webel and Perry Wheeler, who helped her realize her vision for the gardens. As Markert says in the preface to the book, "She paid attention to every detail of the gardens' design and directed their creation with specificity and clarity. Each garden room at Hillwood has its own mood and function, resulting in different forms of beauty at different times of the year." —GARDENDESIGNONLINE.COM
Kate Markert is the executive director of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. Erik Kvalsvik is a photographer of architecture, interiors, gardens, and decorative arts. Charlotte Moss is a New York-based interior designer, author, and philanthropist. Ellen Charles, granddaughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post, was president of the board of Hillwood for twenty-five years.
Enter the garden paradise of Marjorie Merriweather Post's Washington, D.C., estate in this first book on the history and design of the remarkable grounds.
A Garden for All Seasons captures Marjorie Post's garden landscape, set on twenty-five acres in Washington, D.C. Working with prominent landscape architects Umberto Innocenti, Richard Webel, and Perry Wheeler, Post envisioned a setting with a diverse and fascinating array of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, offering something to see in every season.
Thirteen acres of formal gardens extend from the house's terraces and porches in a progression of outdoor rooms. Each of these spaces, meant to complement the mansion's interior rooms, encourages an intuitive flow from the French parterre to the rose garden, onto the Friendship Walk and the vast Lunar Lawn, location of many of Post's legendary entertainments. Readers will find inspiration in the newly commissioned photography, while historic images bring context to the beautiful landscape. Although she was in residence at Hillwood only in the spring and fall, Post designed the gardens to flower in all seasons. Today, they are even more glorious all year round for the myriad visitors to the property.
Praise
"Although the beautiful Washington, D.C., estate of the heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post is temporarily closed, you can still wander its lush gardens in this gorgeous coffee-table book. Orchids bloom in the greenhouse, and fifteen rose cultivars wind through a fragrant garden awash in pink, red, white, and yellow blooms. Another note of loveliness: The beloved Virginia-based interior designer Charlotte Moss writes the foreword." —GARDEN & GUN
"While many visitors go to Hillwood to see the collections of Faberge eggs, Sevres porcelain, Russian Imperial and French decorative art, others go to see the 13 acres of formal gardens that will simply take your breath away, even in these times.But now, you can visit Hillwood in a new book by Hillwood's executive director, Kate Markert, in A Garden for All Seasons: Marjorie Merriweather Post's Hillwood(Rizzoli Electa, 2020).Markert takes you through the history of the gardens, including Post's collaborations with prominent landscape architects Innocenti & Webel and Perry Wheeler, who helped her realize her vision for the gardens. As Markert says in the preface to the book, "She paid attention to every detail of the gardens' design and directed their creation with specificity and clarity. Each garden room at Hillwood has its own mood and function, resulting in different forms of beauty at different times of the year." —GARDENDESIGNONLINE.COM
Author
Kate Markert is the executive director of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. Erik Kvalsvik is a photographer of architecture, interiors, gardens, and decorative arts. Charlotte Moss is a New York-based interior designer, author, and philanthropist. Ellen Charles, granddaughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post, was president of the board of Hillwood for twenty-five years.
