History of Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks is located in residential Georgetown. The original Federal-style house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss in 1920. They added the Music Room in 1929 and the wing to house their Byzantine collection in 1940. The same year they built this wing, they gave the house, gardens, and collections to Harvard University. In 1963, the Pre-Columbian wing, designed by Philip Johnson, and the Garden Library were added to display Mr. Bliss's collection of Pre-Columbian art, which had been on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Art, and Mrs. Bliss's collection of rare and modern books related to all aspects of the history of gardens.