Gardens of Georgetown exploring urban treasures
g e o r g e tow n gar d e n c lu b
Gardens of Georgetown exploring urban treasures
Text by edith nalle schafer
Photography by jenny gorman
g e o r g e tow n gar d e n c lu b
copyright Š 2015 Gardens of Georgetown - Exploring Urban Treasures Th e G e o r g e t o w n G a r d e n C l u b 3 3 1 9 P S t r e e t, n . w. wa s h i n g t o n , d c 2 0 0 0 7 www.georgetowngardentour.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 isbn: 978-0-9861279-0-8 Georgetown Garden Club Book Committee Lee Harrison Child Betsy Emes June Austin Libin Jane Matz Edith Nalle Schafer Elizabeth Shriver All proceeds from the book are returned to Georgetown’s parks and public spaces. book design Dede Cummings / dcdesign Brattleboro,Vermont Typeset in Adobe Bembo with MrsEaves display
printed on paper with pulp that comes from fsc-certified forests, managed forests that guarantee responsible environmental, social, and economic practices. made with a chlorine-free process (ecf: elemental chlorine free).
Contents
Introduction
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Tre e s - rive r birch , h ornbeams and linde n s Wate r - th e sound of wate r s Surprise s - playful place ss Sculpture s
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Geometrics - pleasing patte rn s Path ways - meande ring path ways
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Vegetable s - be ets, g re e n s and lettuce leav 00 Ro se s - ro se s, ro se s, ro se s Pots - pots of inte re st
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Vine s - vine s that climb and wind Gate s - gate s and door s: in s and outs History 00 Plant List 00 Acknowledgments
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Storied Georgetown
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t o r i e d , the word conjures up images of moats, castles, and towers with maidens in pointy hats leaning out of high windows toward the handsome troubadour below. While there are a surprising number of turrets in Georgetown, there are no castles or moats, no unicorns and few troubadours. But storied nevertheless, and full of history. Sometimes, on a mild fall day, the streets seem bathed in a golden light. A place comfortable with itself, Georgetown has been a cultural and social center since the early days of the Republic and before. Its self-confidence is reinforced by continuity. Georgetown’s narrative is long and full. It is the chronicle, after all, of the beginning of a new country. Though the founding fathers are not there anymore, it’s not difficult to call up images of those days, with sunlight slanting through the tall windows where Jefferson dined, where Lafayette danced. Georgetown is an historic district with layers of history—though much has been taken, much remains. For a long time, it took its history for granted. Then, as time and lack of vigilance continued to threaten its treasures, those residents who were paying attention, began to talk about preservation. Charleston, Alexandria, and New Orleans, all had historic districts protected by law, why shouldn’t Georgetown? It seemed necessary to save some of the fine old architecture in an area that was laid out in 1751. Accordingly, in September 1950, the Old Georgetown Act was enacted; this was a start on protecting what we have. The agreeable mix of grand and small houses remains to this day. Georgetown residents have risen up through the years and defended the things they cared about. Preservation has been guided and nurtured by the various watchdog groups, including the Fine Arts Commission, the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service and listing on the Introduction l 5
National Register of Historic Places, the Fine Arts Commission, and the Society for the Preservation of Historic Georgetown. From the beginning of the eighteenth century through the Georgian, Federal, and Classical Revival periods, up through the florid structures of the Gilded Age after the Civil War, residents have repeatedly come together to protect what they have. “Georgetown’s survival,” according to its premiere historian, Mary Mitchell, “is nothing short of an urban miracle.” If we were able to go back through a time warp to the late eighteenth century, we would see open fields, orchards, cows grazing, lambs among the buttercups, livery stables, gravel walks, vineyards, bowers, bicycles. Bicycles were introduced at the Centennial Exposition of 1876, and rapidly became enormously popular. Under the big trees, in a leisurely southern atmosphere, we would see organ grinders, balloon men, pony rides with mama, and children rolling hoops. It was a typical tidewater town, southern in its population and social patterns. An easier time? Maybe, maybe not. It wasn’t all a picture book world. Medical care was primitive, there were fearsome slums, and people living in dreadful conditions in service alleys—these were the people that serviced the big houses close by. Everybody sold seafood; the yards today are still full of oyster shells. You could swim in the Potomac and get baptized in Rock Creek. George Washington died in 1799. In 1800 the capital, in its tangible form, was put on barges in Philadelphia and moved to Washington. Of course, the city of Washington didn’t really exist consisting as it did of unfinished buildings draped in scaffolding, muddy unpaved roads, and fetid malarial swamps. Even then, people preferred to live in Georgetown, with its pleasing ambience and small-town character. Abigail Adams sent to Georgetown for produce and the best viands. Although the area’s popularity plummeted in the early part of the twentieth century, the arrival of the New Deal brought it emphatically back. A close-in location, country houses in the city, inviting porches and terraces--what’s not to like about that? Residents appreciate their mix of quiet classiness and modern striving, a bit of down home, and a touch of swank. The tour-de-force, little museum at Dumbarton Oaks, designed by Philip Johnson to showcase the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art, is off the beaten track, but it is truly a visual delight. Johnson’s exquisite little round spaces surround a circle where a jet of water dances out of a basin of gray slate. Fat columns of gray marble support the light-filled domes; the spaces sing. Well, no, what they actually do is echo, mysteriously. Domes do that. 6
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It’s a scholarly museum intended for a few visitors at a time. Reputed to be the most expensive building per square foot ever built, it’s a supremely-elegant setting for small objects. Said Philip Johnson of his client, “Mrs. Bliss had an eye…she was the perfect client, with a perfect program, and all the money in the world.” The C & O Canal is another oasis in the city. With ducks and herons and yellow iris blooming, its still water mirrors the clouds and the big trees so well that it’s hard to believe you are just a few blocks from a busy intersection. And wooded, hilly Oak Hill Cemetery—what a place to spend eternity! We live in the reflected glory of these lovely places. Trees for Georgetown, a citizens’ organization, watches over the handsome street trees that produce dappled shade so welcome in a Washington summer. Then, as summer advances, crape myrtles come into bloom in giddy bursts of cascading color like fireworks—light pink, dark pink, lavender and white— everywhere. In the fall, the ginkgos let go all at once, their bright yellow leaves creating the feeling that we are guests wading through yellow confetti at some grand, cosmic wedding. There is an outdoor life, as this book will show you: the gardens expand the living areas of the houses for six months of the year. The gardens are stylish, beautiful—that’s why we have such a successful garden tour in Georgetown. Because of the international community and the global outreach of our lives, both today and in the past, our houses and gardens are full of the artistry and ambience of a wider world. Our parks are jewels in our crown. Once again, it is the foresight of people well before our time, that enabled the creation of our glorious parks. Wide-open, grassy spaces give us a real feeling of country in the city, and wooded, hilly Oak Hill Cemetery, what a place to spend eternity!We live in the reflected glory of these lovely places. Georgetown is not just a place, but also a state of mind. One of the forces at work is the spirit of community. Along with the remembrance of things past, style and community form the stage set which binds us together. Enchant us, transport us, comfort us we ask of art, the art that daily surrounds us. Lift us out of our little routines. Remind us of forgotten beauty. Make us aware of tributes to the human spirit both small and large. Delight our eyes. — Edith Nalle Schafer
Introduction l 7
The Gardens
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Georgetown
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e can’t overlook nature’s essential role in our lives, nor do we want to. Over time, almost since we climbed up out of
the ocean and decided we liked it here, human beings have seemed to need gardens. Not just to grow food, although we certainly like that too, but to restore and replenish our spirit. When one lives in a city having a garden is just a way to keep nature nearby, accessible and pleasing. Beyond pleasing: restorative, life enhancing. What gives the unique quality to Georgetown gardens? We live in a small community with worldwide reach.The larger city of which it is a part has tentacles that reach out into the world, distant parts of the world. Our people come back and bring the world back with them. It makes life here seem fluid, not static and not narrow, often receiving transfusions from other countries. We understand small villages, we have lived there, and we understand big cities because we have lived there too. We are formal and we are informal. This bringing of the wider world back home gives us our infinite variety. Our gardens reflect our ecumenical, eclectic, all embracing selves. And they are beautiful. Come with us down our gardens paths. The Gardens of Georgetown l 9
Trees
l river birch,
hornbeams, and lindens The cutting down of trees pains me to an unspeakable degree —Thomas Jefferson
T
h e word paradise is from a Persian word meaning walled garden. Do we have walled gardens in Georgetown, we most certainly do.
Hidden gardens, secret gardens. Most visitors to Georgetown have no idea about the life that goes on behind the impassive federal facades and even less idea of the gardens that unfold there. Our walls and fences conceal and reveal and serve many purposes. Some shut out a less than perfect view and some are so striking and stylish that they are the view. We ask of our gardens do they fit with the house, do they fit with us? Is our garden a place to linger? Does it offer repose? Does it offer surprise? Does it speak to our inner self? In other cultures walled gardens are seen as refuges from the world, as if the walls are barriers to shut out sorrow. Left: Glorious Fringe Tree welcomes visitors at the gate. History l 11