Georgetown Current · Tudor Place garden party raises $250,000

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With Loss of 220-Year-Old White Oak, Tudor Place Re-Invests in Old-Growth Canopy

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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.

Located in Georgetown’s Historic District, this National Historic Landmark is a house museum distinguished for its neoclassical architecture, decorative arts collection, and five-and-a-half acre garden. Built in 1816, it was home to Thomas Peter and his wife, Martha Custis Peter, granddaughter of Martha Washington. It housed six generations of the Peter family over the course of 180 years. Now, open to the public, the historic home is one of our nation’s hidden gems. For details visit www.tudorplace.org

Tudor Place Times · Winter 2012

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Tudor Place Times · Fall 2012

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Tudor Place Archaeology Survey Earns Excellence in Historic Preservation Award

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Staff receive DC Historic Preservation Award

Press Contact:
press@tudorplace.org
Website: https://tudorplace.org/
Tudor Place Historic House and Garden
1644 31st Street NW
Washington, DC 2007

Download the PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2012

Washington, D.C. – June 18, 2012 — For its intensive site-wide archaeological survey, Tudor Place Historic House & Garden has been awarded the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office’s Ninth Annual Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation. The museum’s executive director and Trustees and representatives of Dovetail Cultural Resources, which carried out the work, will accept the prize for Archaeology this Thursday, June 21, at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue. Seventeen other prize categories include Stewardship, Design & Construction, Publications, and Affordable Housing, among others. Former Historic Preservation Review Board Chairman Tersh Boasberg will also recceive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“We are thrilled to be recognized for this foundational survey that informs interpretation of the site and the larger scholarship on houw suburban estates of the early 19th century functioned,” said Tudor Place Executive Director Leslie Buhler. “Archaeology is a critical component of our research. We look forward to what further excavations will reveal.”

The project revealed more that 800 artifacts from the 18th through mid-20th centuries. It also offered clues to the location of possible slave quarters, what may have been a burned barn, and a small brick dwelling on the 1816 National Historic Landmark site.

The “Phase 1” survey, completed in May, covered the propertys full 5.5 acres. Dovetail Cultural Resources conducted it for Tudor Place with funding from the Clark-Winchcole Foundation. The project met goals including identifying past building sites; locating (for reference in future improvements) areas without significant subsurface cultural significance; and providing archaeological context for past and future excavations. It consisted of a pedestrian survey, close-interval subsurface “shovel tests” to recover artifacts, and mapping of all points of interest using GPS.

The survey was one of several preservation and conservation projects begun or completed at Tudor Place in 2011. Others, to cite just a few, focused on Martha and George Washington’s unique tabletop plateau and their waxwork (already the source of a rare decorative artifact); the architecturally noteworthy Temple Portico; and the Box Knot Garden once tended by Tudor Place’s original owners. All such endeavors by the Tudor Place Foundation provide documentation for school programs, educator workshops, public programs, and scholarly research.

Located in Georgetown’s Historic District, this National Historic Landmark is a house museum distinguished for its neoclassical architecture, decorative arts collection, and five-and-a-half acre garden. Built in 1816, it was home to Thomas Peter and his wife, Martha Custis Peter, granddaughter of Martha Washington. It housed six generations of the Peter family over the course of 180 years. Now, open to the public, the historic home is one of our nation’s hidden gems. For details visit https://tudorplace.org/

Tudor Place Garden Restoration Heralds Commitment to Long-Term Preservation

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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

Download the PDF

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.

Located in Georgetown’s Historic District, this National Historic Landmark is a house museum distinguished for its neoclassical architecture, decorative arts collection, and five-and-a-half acre garden. Built in 1816, it was home to Thomas Peter and his wife, Martha Custis Peter, granddaughter of Martha Washington. It housed six generations of the Peter family over the course of 180 years. Now, open to the public, the historic home is one of our nation’s hidden gems. For details visit www.tudorplace.org

Tudor Place Times · Spring 2012

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