Press Contact:
Communications Officer
Mandy Katz, mkatz@tudorplace.org
202.965.0400
Website: www.tudorplace.org
Tudor Place Historic House and Garden
1644 31st Street NW
Washington, DC 2007

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2013

Planting the tall trees of tomorrow today

Washington, D.C. – May 9, 2013 — Chainsaws and a 75-ton crane will arrive in the Tudor Place North Garden Monday morning, May 12, to remove a white oak tree looming more than 100 feet tall that may have taken root in the 18th century. Arborists have determined that the oak is leaning dangerously, and soil fissures at its roots indicate failure. Press are invited to witness the procedure and the planned replacement planting in fall. Archival photographs like the one at right from the early 1900s show that the tree towered over past generations of the Peter family, who owned the estate for more than 180 years.

For safety reasons, the tree’s removal had to be scheduled with little notice: Its upper limbs were thinned Tuesday as a temporary measure while awaiting a crane’s availability. Tudor Place staff, Board, and supporters are bidding a reluctant farewell to this old friend. The tree stands out even on a property renowned for old-growth specimens, including the ancient Tulip Poplar named by the America the Beautiful Fund as D.C.’s “Millennium Tree.”

“The loss of this majestic tree will reshape Tudor Place’s north landscape,” said Executive Director Leslie Buhler. “However, just as previous owners honored the site’s past while planning for its future, we will replace it with a new white oak in the fall.”

While a sad event, it’s not without an optimistic side, especially for history lovers and curators
accustomed to a the long view: Measured against the Peters’s two centuries of stewarding the landscape, the time it takes for a replacement sapling to mature into a future “old-growth” tree is the proverbial eye blink. It’s not hard to picture the day when it will offer coming generations shade and the same powerful feelings stirred by nature’s gifts at Tudor Place today. (It is hoped donors will share the same vision: To defray the extraordinary cost of removing and replacing the oak and sustaining and replenishing the site’s other tall trees, a dedicated fund will be formally announced.)

Since 1983, Tudor Place Foundation has continued the Peter family tradition of nurturing the city’s tree canopy. With green spaces under threat all around us, our long view of the past that equips Tudor Place to foresee — and prepare for — a leafy future to come.

Press Contact:
Communications Officer
Mandy Katz, mkatz@tudorplace.org
Mobile: 202.486.7645
Website: www.tudorplace.org
Tudor Place Historic House and Garden
1644 31st Street NW
Washington, DC 2007

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2012

Washington, D.C. – May 9, 2012 — Tudor Place Trustees, neighbors, and other supporters gathered yesterday evening in the historic Georgetown estate’s North Garden to dedicate the National Historic Landmark’s newly restored Box Knot Garden. The project restored the feature to its appearance in 1933, which itself replicated its earliest incarnation.

“This is the first significant garden restoration to be completed at Tudor Place since it passed out of private hands in the 1980s,” said Executive Director Leslie Buhler. “On a practical level, the restoration enables more sustainable horticultural practices and helps ensure this historic feature’s hardiness and growth. On a symbolic level, it exemplifies the high standards we have established for site-wide preservation efforts.”

Such improvements are only achieved through the help of dedicated donors, noted Geoffrey Baker, Vice President of the museum’s Board of Trustees, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. He thanked J. Bruce Whelihan, Trustee of The Ruth S. Willoughby Foundation, for the significant grant that funded theproject.

Mr. Whelihan praised the Box Knot restoration as a positive step toward ensuring the entire site’s future. A Tudor Place Trustee, Mr. Whelihan noted, “These are exciting times with plans under development to fully preserve the house, collection, and garden and, at the same time, provide exhibition and dedicated education spaces.”

The restoration echoes an effort undertaken in the 1930s by owner Armistead Peter, Jr., and his son Armistead Peter 3rd. They recreated in large part the original 1816 Box Knot once tended by Martha Custis Peter, granddaughter to Martha Washington, and her husband Thomas Peter, the home’s founding owners. In recent years, the garden’s geometric hedges inlaid with rose bushes were increasingly stressed by poor drainage and changing climatic conditions, requiring frequent watering.

Director of Gardens & Grounds Suzanne Bouchard, who guided the restoration, described to attendees how the plant beds were excavated and their shrubs replaced with a new variety of boxwood more suited to D.C.’s climate. Roses, including specimens dating to the home’s earliest years, were temporarily removed and restored to their original locations, where they are now blooming prodigiously.

Press Contact:
Communications Officer
Mandy Katz, mkatz@tudorplace.org
202.965.0400 ext. 112
Website: www.tudorplace.org
Tudor Place Historic House and Garden
1644 31st Street NW
Washington, DC 2007

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2012

Washington, D.C. – January 25, 2012 — Tudor Place Historic House & Garden conservators andcurators received a rare glimpse of early American interior design this week with the discovery of a well-preserved sample of block-printed 18th-century wallpaper. The roughly 10-inch piece had been used on a handmade cabinet belonging to George Washington and his wife. Martha Washington’s granddaughter, Martha Custis Peter, and her husband, the founders of Tudor Place, purchased the cabinet in 1802 from Mrs. Washington’s estate.

The wallpaper had covered the top of the Washingtons’ piece, a wax and shellwork tableau
crafted by New York entrepreneur Samuel Fraunces in the 1780s. Its discovery and
conservation portend other valuable insights likely to emerge from study of the Fraunces
piece, which is undergoing a two-year, $37,400 conservation project involving specialists
in wax, textiles, and paper. The Richard C. von Hess Foundation, based in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, is funding the project.

“We are thrilled with this significant discovery and look forward to further research
opportunities presented by the samples,” said Tudor Place Executive Director Leslie
Buhler.

Adding further interest to the paper’s discovery are indications that it was manufactured
by a burgeoning domestic industry, rather than in England. A few American wallpaper
manufactories were established by the end of the 1700s, and some produced papers that
surpassed the quality of British or French imports, notes Curator of Collections Erin
Kuykendall. “The simple, repeating floral pattern printed in pink and green is typical for
late eighteenth-century American-made wallpapers,” she said. “Further research may help
identify a specific American manufacturer or retailer.”

Decorating walls with printed papers from England, France, or America was common in elite and middling American households by the late 1700s. Samples rarely survive, however, due to paper’s inherent fragility and householders’ tendency to remove or paint it over time. And samples like this one, over 10 inches in length and bearing multiple design repeats, are particularly rare. Wallpaper samples that do survive are most commonly found sealing the backs of picture frames, covering and lining books, or lining the interior of boxes and trunks, making this an unusual find.

The waxwork paper sample bears a polychromatic floral-and-vine stripe design block printed on laid paper and appears to be torn around the edges. Conservators found it under two additional layers of paper applied over time. The middle piece was a monochromatic blue wallpaper of a lesser quality in extremely poor condition. The outermost layer consisted of a patterned wallpaper dating stylistically to the mid-19th century that had been cut into multiple pieces and attached in a sort of patchwork.

“We were surprised by the excellent condition of the eighteenth-century paper, despite a
significant accumulation of soiling trapped above and below the layer,” noted conservator
Nancy Purinton, of Purinton Preservation, Inc. During the three days removal process,
conservators first humidified the layers to relax the adhesive binding them. Next, using
special spatulas, they gently lifted each layer onto a piece of archival fabric inserted
beneath it. Using the fabric as a support, they then lifted each paper away from the wooden
case.

The wallpaper removal is one of many complicated procedures involved in the overall
conservation of Fraunces’s rare wax and shellwork tableau depicting the Greek warrior,
Hector, bidding farewell to Andromache as he returns to battle. Fraunces, who served as
steward of the Washingtons’ presidential household in Philadelphia, operated Manhattan
enterprises including the Queen Charlotte’s Head Tavern near Wall Street and the former
Vauxhall pleasure gardens on the Upper East Side.

Press Contact:
Director of Communications
Heather Bartlow, hbartlow@tudorplace.org
202.965.0400
Website: www.tudorplace.org
Tudor Place Historic House and Garden
1644 31st Street NW
Washington, DC 2007

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2010

Washington, D.C. – July 19, 2010 — The chest-on-chest that once stood next to the fireplace in George Washington’s bedroom has returned to Tudor Place after 6 months of conservation treatment. The chest-on-chest sits in the second floor hall at Tudor Place where it has stood for almost 200 years. The conservation took away years of grime, blended in minor repairs, and removed a poor refinishing completed in earlier years. The full conservation treatment restored the original finish and brass pulls and escutcheons. The piece looks as it did when George Washington himself gazed upon it in his bedchamber at Mount Vernon. Chest-on-chests such as this one were made to ship belongs and goods from England and Scotland to the Colonies. The piece is extremely rare as there are only a dozen documented English pieces imported to the Colonies in the mid 18th century that exist today.

Major Findings During the Assessment and Conservation

• On the rear of the upper section of the chest-on-chest is the cipher “GWFx No. 2” and on the lower section is the cipher “GWFx No. 1”. This discovery confirmed the provenance of the piece. The chest-on-chest originally belonged to George William Fairfax and is now dated to 1740s – 1760.
• The original finish was discovered under the escutcheon on the lowest drawer and further visible and longwave ultraviolet radiation indicated its composition.
• The pulls, escutcheons, and key are original to the piece. The
  brass escutcheons were sand cast.

George William Fairfax of Belvoir Plantation originally shipped the chest-on-chest from England. The date of manufacture is thought to be between the late 1740’s to the 1760’s. Like
other pieces of the time, it was loaded on board ship, covered, and then tied to the gunwale for transport.

Years later the chest-on-chest was purchased by George Washington at the 1773 sale of the furnishings of Belvoir Plantation. George William Fairfax, owner of Belvoir at that time, was a friend of Washington and husband to Sally Fairfax. Washington purchased the mahogany chest and drawers that stood in Mrs. Fairfax’s chamber for £12 10s. Not a fine piece of furniture, Washington would have purchased it for practical purposes. It stood in his bedroom next to the fireplace. A depiction of the chest-on-chest is seen in John Gadsby Chapman’s 1834 painting of the room in which George Washington died. The chest-on-chest was purchased by Thomas and Martha Peter of Tudor Place at the 1802 estate sale after the death of Martha Washington, Mrs. Peter’s grandmother.