A National Historic Landmark — With a Twist

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They form a common bond between all Americans. While there are many
historic places across the nation, only a small number have meaning to
all Americans–these we call our National Historic Landmarks. 

Tudor Place became one of the first 70 U.S. properties designated a “National Historic Landmark” in 1960, when the designation was created. Expanding from that initial group, which also included the U.S. Capitol building, Monticello, the Williamsburg Historic District, the U.S.S. Constitution, and the Erie Canal, the group still numbers fewer than 2,500 sites.

Inspired by Tudor Place’s designation as a National Historic Landmark, owner Armistead Peter 3rd contemplated additional ways Tudor Place could receive the recognition it deserved while ensuring it would be preserved for posterity. The creative solution that emerged six years later granted the first permanent “Preservation Easement” to the National Park Service (N.P.S.) and served as a model for future conservation gifts. As a novel legal formulation, its creation required complex negotiations between Peter’s attorneys and the N.P.S. and moved (possibly frustrated) N.P.S. staff at one point to describe the Tudor Place owner in an internal memo as “a man of considerable force and firm opinions.” Click below to read Executive Director Mark Hudson’s account of the birth pangs of this novel conservation tool.

Tudor Place Receives $100,000 Matching Grant from DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities

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Tudor Place South Facade
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE &#183 Feb. 26, 2014
Contact Mandy Katz
mkatz@tudorplace.org
202.486.7645

WASHINGTON, DC: In recognition of its important role in making historic resources available to residents of all eight wards of the District, the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities has awarded Tudor Place Historic House & Garden a $100,000 matching grant for 2014 to maintain and restore critical infrastructure. The project, which requires Tudor Place to raise an equal amount, is funded in part by the DCAH, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The grant and matching funds will help Tudor Place continue serving local students and residents as well as visitors to the Capital City and protecting valuable artistic and cultural collections.  It includes replacement of a late 19th-century roof, repointing of a brick structure, and restoration painting of the exterior woodwork on the National Historic Landmark house, which welcomes over 20,000 visitors a year.

“It is one thing to make the case for splashy restoration projects the public sees every day,” commented Tudor Place Executive Director Leslie Buhler, “but the kind of long-term preservation and maintenance covered by this grant are no less essential. We applaud DCAH for supporting the literal foundations of an impressive historic resource in our city.”

   better horizon. pic stitch

Tudor Place Historic House & Garden, a 5-½-acre estate in the city’s Georgetown neighborhood, is a 501(c)3 non-profit serving schools and residents from across the District.  The National Historic Landmark house is a unique testament to our city’s past, described by the U.S Commission on Fine Arts as, “without doubt, the most significant early 19th-century residence in Washington.” The site serves over 3,000 D.C. students annually, the majority of them in Title I schools.

In addition to providing enriching field trips, Tudor Place offers public programs in history and culture; sponsors historic and archeological research into the economy, labor, and demographic history of D.C.’s free and enslaved residents; and hosts professional development workshops for over 350 teachers annually. The historic site connects the public to American history through the personal experiences of those who lived and worked on the estate and encourages all people to know their own stories and recognize their roles in shaping history.
1644 31st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Special for “Where” Readers: 20% off Tours!

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girl with mask

WHERE IS WASHINGTON’S BEST DEAL ON HISTORY TOURS?

Here — at Tudor Place!

Use promo code “WHERE” when booking to receive 20% off regular guided tours.

Tudor Place Times · Winter/Spring 2014

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Seasonal Themes and Installations

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Something for every taste and season!

Schedule your visit around these special installations! Tudor Place tours offer immediacy and authenticity. Now, there’s more! Don’t miss these seasonal displays, included at no extra charge in every tour, of rare Collections objects, each with a story of its own. And any time we’re open, come to the Visitor Center at no charge to see a display of photographs of Tudor Place in the snow, 1910-1913, taken and printed in silver-nitrate format by the estate’s last owner while he was a teenager.

 

FDR White House Invitation
A Visit With the Presidents

FEBRUARY + MARCH

Requesting the pleasure of your company…  From documents like the Franklin Roosevelt White House invitation at left, to porcelain that graced the very first Presidential table, Tudor Place is filled with ties to the highest office in the land. Rare artifacts and little known stories are part of this two-month tour component. Admission half-price throughout February!

 

Floral plate, 19th century
Gardens In & Out

APRIL – AUGUST

Through six generations, the Peters of Tudor Place turned their focus beyond the 1816 mansion to their multi-acred landscape. This fresh and fascinating tour installation reveals how the family drew inspiration for their indoor lives from the lush “rooms,” heritage trees, and garden beds they cultivated outdoors. Drawing from the museum’s voluminous Collection and Archive, the tour highlights botanical images and ideas found in books, cards, magazines, textiles, and china.

 

smokehouse door

 
Eating Local — Feeding the Urban Estate

SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER

Harvest and the Smokehouse are the focus for fall across the 1816 Landmark site, from the newly restored ca. 1795 smokehouse to the historic kitchen and 5½-acre gardens that once helped sustain owners and workers on this iconic urban estate. Agricultural implements will be on view, along with the kitchen preparations and table setting for a fine 1830s family dinner featuring the best of the smokehouse’s yield, ham and sausages. Also view related collections items including ceramics, housewares, diaries, receipts, and recipes, all chronicling domestic life in the city since the days when hay grew on the South Lawn. Learn about early “locavorism” on all regular tours (offered hourly), at special events, and when you visit the garden and newly opened Smokehouse. What better way to understand how land, labor, and urban larders have evolved since our city’s earliest days?

 

Dining table holiday centerpiece
Red, Green & Gold: the New and the Old
   Tudor Place Sparkles for Christmas

THANKSGIVING – DECEMBER 31

Experience the best of tradition and 21st-century flair over the holidays in the National Historic Landmark mansion. This seasonal installation in their onetime home imagines how the Peters would have decorated for a modern Christmas, blending heirloom spaces and collections with modern style in winter greenery, ribbons and bows, and the sparkle of lights and color.

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