Informal Gardens
Dumbarton Oaks Park
For the northern portions of the Bliss property, Farrand created a naturalistic landscape of stream, woodland, and meadow. A circular walk begins at a stone bridge, crosses through a series of waterfalls and pools, enters a forest of mixed, largely native, trees and shrubs and then winds through four meadows on the northern slope above the stream. Many plant species chosen by Farrand for the upper gardens extend into the lower gardens: Forsythia, native Rhododendron, Scilla, and Crocus.
In 1940, when the Blisses donated the upper sixteen acres of their property to Harvard University, they donated these lower twenty-seven acres to the United States government to be managed by the National Park Service. In recent years, the National Park Service has worked to restore elements of the Farrand design and to stabilize the property from the threats of storm water runoff and invasive species.
Further Information
The South Front
- South Side of the House
- South Lawn
- The Garden Library and Ribbon Walk
- East Lawn
- R Street Walk
- The Terrior Column and Enclosure
Enclosed Gardens
- The Orangery
- The Green Garden
- The Star Garden
- The North Vista
- The Swimming Pool and Loggia
- The Pebble Garden
- The Beech Terrace
- The Urn Terrace
- The Rose Garden
- The Fountain Terrace
- The Arbor Terrace
- The Box Walk
- The Ellipse