May 24 is the Renowned Designer’s Sole D.C. Appearance

CONTACT

202.580.7329 | press@tudorplace.org

Washington, DC –International designer Alessandra Branca will headline the Landmark Luncheon in the Garden Party tent on May 24, following Tudor Place’s annual Spring Garden Party, on May 23. A 2018 Kips Bay Show House designer known for dramatic fabrics and interiors that blend the classic and the everyday, Branca makes this exclusive D.C. appearance in honor of her friend, the late Elizabeth Powell, whose memory the Garden Party likewise honors. Powell’s 18^th-century Georgetown home was one of Branca’s signature projects and featured in Veranda magazine.

The luncheon begins at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 24, on the Tudor Place South Lawn. Tickets and details can be obtained here. The elegantly catered event will conclude at 2 p.m. Capacity is limited, so early booking is recommended.

Born and raised in Rome and now based in Chicago, Branca learned early how to mix classical beauty into everyday surroundings. Her design firm, founded more than 25 years ago, is known for fusing the chic workmanship of a couturier with energy and practicality in individual designs. In addition to residential clients, Branca works with commercial properties including clubs, restaurants and hotels, and has developed fabric, furniture, and tabletop collections for her eponymous Casa Branca line.

Branca’s work has been profiled in Architectural Digest, Departures, Town & Country, the New York Times, and Elle Décor, and she has appeared on Elle Décor’s A-List every year since 2011 as well as House Beautiful’s Master Class. The author of New Classic Interiors, Branca is working on her second book, due in 2019. With nearly 50,000 following @abranca on Instagram, her singular view on design, art, travel and culture make her one of the most popular tastemakers in her field today.

Tudor Place Landmark Lectures, offered throughout the year, explore topics in history, horticulture, architecture, art and the decorative arts inspired by the unparalleled collections, buildings and landscape of the National Historic Landmark site. The annual post-Garden Party luncheon, held in the event’s beautiful marquee on the South Lawn since 2015, has become a popular social occasion and opportunity to hear from modern tastemakers.

[updated September 6, 2017]

WASHINGTON, DC – Georgetown – An upcoming festival at Tudor Place in Georgetown will feature heritage food and drink, outdoor music and games, and their ties to local history. Brews, Booze & Bites, from 1 to 4 p.m. on September 16, will bring more than 20 purveyors of artisanal and local food, drinks, desserts and music to the historic Georgetown estate’s rolling South Lawn. A single ticket — $30 for members; $35 general; discounts available for groups of 6+ — covers all, including:

• a full menu of sips and tastings in the historic garden;
• two guided food tours focused on indoor and outdoor food traditions;
• traditional American lawn games;
• live music performed by the Foggy Bottom Whomp Stompers; and
• free keepsake tasting glass.

The menu includes a side of history with every satisfying bite or sip, highlighting local history, foodways, and Tudor Place tie-ins for everything from barbecue, oysters, bruschetta, honey, olive oil, and vegetarian sushi, to ice cream, pastries, beer, cider, whiskey and spirits. (Confirmed vendors listed below.)

This is the second annual fall food festival at Tudor Place; the first, in October 2016, commemorated the site’s bicentennial. Food history and land use has been intertwined with the history of Tudor Place since the day in 1805 when it was purchased by the Peter family as 8½ acres of farmland. Completed in 1816 and lived in by six generations of one family, the house and landscaped garden on 5½ acres are now a museum with a collection including food and agriculture implements, lore, and documents including recipe books and planting notes.

Brews, Booze & Bites will take place rain or shine. Admission is limited to ages 21 and older. Registration is recommended, and can be purchased here. Discounts are available for groups of six or more.

Contacts and Registration

• Register.
• For vendor information, email us.
• For group discounts, email or call 202.580.7321.
• For press inquiries, email or call Mandy Katz, 202.486.7645.

Tour Schedule

• Outdoor Edibles – 1 and 3 p.m
• Follow the Bacon house tour – 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Confirmed Performers and Purveyors

• Foggy Bottom Whomp-Stompers Prohibition-Era Jazz Band
• Catoctin Creek Distilling Company
• Hop, Cask & Barrel
• KO Distilling
• Mad Fox Brewing Company
• Moorenko’s Ice Cream
• Old Bust Head Brewing Company
• Pastries by Randolph
• Raw Oyster Bar, sponsored by Whole Foods Market
• War Shore Oyster Company
• Vegetarian Sushi, provided by Whole Foods Market
• Republic Restoratives
• Reservoir Distillery
• Right Proper Brewing Company
• Rocklands Barbecue and Grilling Company
• Sagamore Spirit Distillery
• Via Umbria
• Bold Rock Hard Cider
• Denizens Brewing Co.
• Winchester Cider Works
• Georgetown Olive Oil
• BannerBee Company

###

Media Advisory
May 18, 2016
Contact Mandy Katz
email | phone: 202.486.7645

Lavishly Honoring the Bicentennial of American Treasure Tudor Place

May 25, 2016 | 6 – 9 p.m.

Washington, DC–Traditional Georgetown understatement will be nowhere in attendance at the annual Garden Party fundraiser for Tudor Place this Wednesday, May 25, when 500 guests are expected to celebrate the site’s Bicentennial in grand style. Along with philanthropists, elected officials, donors, diplomats from 10 countries, and others, “historic attendees” will include Tudor Place’s founders and their servants, kin, and famous friends including the Marquis de Lafayette; John Luckett, who escaped both slavery and the Union Army before working at “Tudor;” and the first President himself, “Grandfather” George Washington.

Party Chair Marcia V. Mayo has spared no extravagance of imagination for this music-filled evening adorned with lush lighting, abundant blooms and costumed interpreters representing fascinating personages from the site’s storied past.

Members of the press wishing to cover this lavish event and/or extensive preparations for it in the days preceding are asked to contact us now.

In ardent supporter and museum Trustee Ms. Mayo, Tudor Place has found an extraordinary chairperson to mark an extraordinary milestone, the 200^th anniversary of an immaculately preserved American house and garden.In keeping with the site’s slogan, America’s Story Lives Here, she has created an event to evoke the site’s storied history and key figures who helped shape it.

In addition to unusual people and lavish music, spectacular cars will feature at the event. As guests enter, they can enjoy examining the museum’s dashing 1919 Pierce-Arrow motorcar, relocated to the front of the historic house (weather permitting) for special viewing. As they depart, they will be met by the fantastically patterned “Lilly Jeep” from Lilly Pulitzer, which opens its Georgetown boutique this week. In between, they can mingle in the five-and-a-half-acre garden, reception rooms of the historic house, and the elegant South Lawn dining marquee dripping with chandeliers and blooms.

TO SEE AND HEAR:

• Costumed interpreters representing the historic estate’s past owners, servants, and famous guests, with cast and costumes by Washington National Opera
• Performers from the Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program
• Original, custom-built 1919 Pierce-Arrow motor car and Lilly Jeep.
• 5 ½ acres of historical gardens and elegant event marquee on South Lawn.
• Hats.

WHEN:

Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 6-9 pm

WHERE: 1644 31^st St. NW, Washington, DC 20007

ABOUT TUDOR PLACE & THE GARDEN PARTY:

The annual Garden Party, now in its 24^th year, is the most significant annual fundraiser for Tudor Place, one of the nation’s first National Historic Landmarks. Tudor Place Foundation since 1983 has preserved and operated the National Historic Landmark as a museum. Its historic landscape, buildings, collections, and archive comprise one of the nation’s largest and most intact urban estates from the Federal era. Cultivated since the 18^th century, the landscape provides a living history of American land use over time and a rare expanse of green space in the urban environment. The house and collections, including more than 200 objects owned by George and Martha Washington, mark American progress and change from the agricultural to the digital age, an unparalleled record of social, cultural, political, and labor history.

As a pioneer in historic horticulture and sustainable public gardening, the Tudor Place landscape serves as a learning laboratory for school groups, garden clubs, artists, researchers, and horticulturalists. More than 23,000 people visit the house and garden each year, including more than 3,000 school-aged children from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, many in Title I schools.

Pierce-Arrow image by Bruce White.

North Garden image by James Brantley.