Dumbarton Oaks

Gardens Near and Far episode 9 – Dumbarton Oaks was designed in the 1920s by Beatrix Farrand, who pioneered landscape gardening in the USA. It comprises four hectares of gardens and eleven hectares of grounds and woodland, set in a wealthy neighbourhood on the heights of Washington DC.     The estate was purchased in 1920 by the diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife Mildred. The Blisses wanted to create a haven of green in the heart of the city. The hillside gardens are laid out in terraces, following the lie of the land. In the 1940s, Ruth Havey, […]