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Tudor Place
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TUDOR PLACE | Open Tuesday – Sunday. Currently on view TANGLED ROOTS. Click TICKETS for reservation times.

Tudor Place Garden History

The founders’ Georgetown was a center of the tobacco and slave trades as well as other forms of commerce in the thriving port town. The Peters were one of several wealthy families leaving the bustling, densely populated port area (a townhouse on K Street) – for newly built mansions on the Heights. From here, they enjoyed open views (now obscured by foliage) toward the harbor, the Potomac River, and across it, Virginia.

The Tudor Place landscape began with a combination of ornamental and agrarian uses, worked by an enslaved labor force, including the family’s enslaved gardener Will Twine, in the early years and later by a paid staff of gardeners. Some agricultural uses lasted into the 20th century. By 1960, when Armistead Peter 3rd inherited the site and became its last private owner, the garden was focused on purely recreational purposes.

With careful fidelity to their forebears, each Peter generation preserved original design elements as well as many of the earliest plantings, while adapting the landscape to their own needs. Consequently, unusual heirloom species dating back a century or more still thrive here, such as the Florentine tulips, grape varieties climbing the arbor near the Box Knot, and the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow forget-me-nots.

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WHAT'S NEW

In The News

AASLH Announces Winners of the 2025 Leadership In History Awards of Excellence: Tudor Place is Recipient

June 12, 2025/by Janet Wall
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png 0 0 Janet Wall https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Janet Wall2025-06-12 09:23:102025-06-13 17:08:46AASLH Announces Winners of the 2025 Leadership In History Awards of Excellence: Tudor Place is Recipient

From The Blog

Unique DMV Architecture: Then and Now

April 4, 2025/by Janet Wall
Read more
https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png 0 0 Janet Wall https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Janet Wall2025-04-04 15:44:042025-04-08 15:47:56Unique DMV Architecture: Then and Now

Education at Home

Barbara Pope Was a Civil Rights Activist Who Refused to Give Up Her Seat on a Segregated Train

February 3, 2025/by Comms2018
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png 0 0 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-02-03 13:37:482025-04-08 09:58:45Barbara Pope Was a Civil Rights Activist Who Refused to Give Up Her Seat on a Segregated Train

Architecture of Tudor Place

January 27, 2025
June 15, 2025
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Copy-of-Architecture-Tour-Website-845-x-321-px-1.png 321 845 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-01-27 15:09:572025-02-21 13:13:18Architecture of Tudor Place

Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place (June 17 – June 22)

March 12, 2025
June 17, 2025
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Tangled-Roots-web-1.jpg 2000 1889 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-03-12 13:47:102025-03-12 13:47:10Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place (June 17 – June 22)
Text to introduce Juneteenth and what it is about

Juneteenth – Visit Tudor Place at Mt. Vernon

June 15, 2025
June 19, 2025
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https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Juneteenth-Post_06.19.25.jpg 411 360 Janet Wall https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Janet Wall2025-06-15 12:46:032025-06-15 13:07:28Juneteenth – Visit Tudor Place at Mt. Vernon

Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place (June 24 – June 29)

March 13, 2025
June 24, 2025
Read more
https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Tangled-Roots-web-1.jpg 2000 1889 Comms2018 https://tudorplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-01-23-300x155.png Comms20182025-03-13 14:09:522025-03-13 14:09:52Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place (June 24 – June 29)
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SLAVERY AT TUDOR PLACE

As an historic site that bears the scars of slavery, Tudor Place seeks to look this injustice in the eye.  Click here to learn more.

  • About

    • Mission
    • Staff & Leadership
    • Jobs, Internships & Volunteering
    • For Neighbors
    • Annual Reports
    • Preservation
  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Parking & Directions
    • FAQ & Accessibility
    • Photography & Filming
    • Shop
    • Virtual Tour
  • Museum & Collection

    • History
    • Collection
    • Slavery at Tudor Place
    • Domestic Servants
    • Archive
    • Learn
  • Garden

    • History
    • Explore
    • What’s Blooming
  • Calendar

  • Education

    • Field
    • Scouts
    • Teacher Resources
  • Join & Give

    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Garden Party

Advance registration encouraged; suggested donation. Click for info.

1644 31st Street, NW | Washington, DC 20007
202-965-0400 | info@tudorplace.org

  • About

    • Mission
    • Staff & Leadership
    • Jobs, Internships & Volunteering
    • For Neighbors
    • Annual Reports
    • Preservation
  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Parking & Directions
    • FAQ & Accessibility
    • Photography & Filming
    • Shop
    • Virtual Tour
  • Museum & Collection

    • History
    • Collection
    • Slavery at Tudor Place
    • Domestic Servants
    • Archive
    • Learn
  • Garden

    • History
    • Explore
    • What’s Blooming
  • Calendar

  • Education

    • Field
    • Scouts
    • Teacher Resources
  • Join & Give

    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Garden Party

Advance registration encouraged; suggested donation. Click for info.

1644 31st Street, NW | Washington, DC 20007
202-965-0400 | info@tudorplace.org

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