Beatrix Farrand
One of my favourite places to revisit is Washington DC. Before my brother living there though it was never on my radar but I’ve gone back several times now. The museums, parks, history, food, & neighborhoods keeps me exploring new areas with each visit. On my latest trip I wanted to see Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown.
Farrand designed the gardens for then U.S. diplomate Robert Bliss, starting in 1921. The collaboration between Farrand and Mrs. Bliss would last 30 years. It's difficult to imagine Georgetown with farmland today as Farrand would have seen it. But she would separate formal garden rooms attached to the house from tennis courts, pools, kitchen gardens, cut flower beds. She also blended "wild" meadows and streams to back into the property. It creates a progression of living spaces that stretch from tight and formal into an expanse of woods.
While I can watch documentaries from snowy Calgary, nothing will replace stepping into the actual space. It was surreal to stand in areas that I saw in pictures and finally understand the scale. (My sister and I almost didn’t leave the Orangery in starting our tour. We kept finding design details to admire.) I would highly recommend an afternoon there. However be warned the garden grounds and the museum have different times and the garden does have a fee. Google was having a hard time distinguishing between the two opening times and we got there before the grounds opened. Not an issue as you are in Georgetown so you can take a walk through the beautiful neighborhoods to kill time.
I would recommend stopping first at “Call your Mother” a bagel spot that I always visit when I’m in town. Have your Uber or bus stop there first. Eat there but grab your iced coffee and walk up to the gardens. For someone that likes to read every historical marker, Georgetown is perfect for me and my attention span.
Before I visited, I had the opportunity to watch a documentary on Farrand. Born in 1872, Beatrix Farrand used the privilege she was born into to open doors closed to women at the time. At one point being turned down from enrolling into a school and simply hiring the professors to tutor her privately. Girl boss move. From the Jones family (keeping up with the Jones'), she found many future clients within her social network. Her Aunt Edith Wharton would also support Farrand and introduce her to future clients. This would include President Wilson's, J.P. Morgan to John D. Rockefeller Jr.
In addition to residential, Farrand designed for University campuses including Princeton, Harvard, Yale and the University of Chicago. Her planting in Acadia National Park is still in use. She would ultimately become one of the founding members of the American Society of Landscape Architects. (Of the original 11 members she was the only woman).
After her husband's death, she would decide to sell their home and it’s private garden rather than risk the decline of the expansive space. Her last move was to a friends property, Garland Farms, and remained in her own cottage until her death. Beatrix Farrand would pass away in 1959. Unlike many female pioneers of their time, Beatrix was recognized during her lifetime for her "inborn talent which has been developed by hard study". Today you can still visit her home and final garden; in 2004 the Beatrix Farrand Society purchased the property with the mission to continue her work.
