Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens (8/6/2021)

Friday, August 6, 2021 (continued)

Hillwood Estate was one of the homes of Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir and "CEO" of the Post/Postum Cereal Company, later General Foods. Her other homes were Camp Topridge in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Both are now under private ownership, although Mar-a-Lago's zoning was re-designated from single-family residence to private club under Trump's ownership. Now the Trump family lives there full-time on the basis of his being an employee. Wow, the things you learn!

Hillwood (1920s, in Neo- Georgian style) was purchased
by Marjorie Post in 1955; the interior was then gutted
and rebuilt, designed by Alexander McIlvaine,
to showcase the many collections of Post

The entry hall and stairway features a
portrait (c 1788, by Dimitrii Grigorievich
Levitskii) of Catherine the Great of Russia

Marjorie Post had a collection of 18-19C imperial Russian decorative and fine arts, most acquired because her third husband, Joseph E Davies, was the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Special Exhibit: The Porcelain Flowers
of Vladimir Kanevsky: Lilacs

French commode/chest of drawers (c 1775-1780, by
Jean-Henri Riesener, cabinet maker to French King Louis XVI)

Marjorie Post also had a collection of 18C French decorative and fine arts.

Russian Porcelain Room displayed porcelain and glass,
including pieces from the Orders Service with the
star badges of four elite society organizations (KSS)

French Drawing Room with paneling and fireplace mantel
from 18C Parisian homes, Beauvais tapestries (1730s),
and a portrait (1857, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter)
of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoléon III

The Pavilion was Marjorie Post's "media room"
where she would show movies (we can see
the projector window above the balcony)

Lilies of the Valley by Vladimir Kanevsky
on a Russian table of malachite

Catherine the Great Easter Egg (1914,
by Henrik Wigström of Fabergé)

Twelve Monogram Easter Egg (1896, by
Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin of Fabergé)

Icon Room Imperial Russian clock

Dining Room with many pieces of
The Porcelain Flowers 
of Vladimir Kanevsky

Morning Glory by Vladimir Kanevsky (KSS)

A leaf of the dining room table (1927, by the Opificio
delle Pietre Dure in Florence, Italy) shows the exquisite
craftsmanship often hidden under a tablecloth

Breakfast Room with orchids displayed by
the window to blend with the exterior gardens;
also note the green chandelier from a bedroom
used by Catherine the Great in the Catherine
Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, St Petersburg, Russia

A Spring Centerpiece by Vladimir Kanevsky

Kitchen (KSS)

Refrigerators (KSS)

Pantry

French Porcelain Room with a
Bleu Céleste service by Sèvres

Ben Franklin cup and saucer (c 1779, by Sèvres)

Russian Sacred Arts Gallery: Chalice
(1791, by Iver Winfeldt Buch) was
commissioned by Catherine the Great

Nuptial Crown (1767-1884) was worn by Empress
Alexandra at her wedding to Nicholas II in 1894

Adam Bedroom Suite, a guest bedroom decorated in
an English style popularized by designers
Robert and James Adam in the 1700s

The guest bedroom door has a box that when
opened warns "Do not disturb - Resting"

Marjorie Post Bedroom with a Louis XVI canopied bed
and an 18C desk (by Conrad Mauter)

Marjorie Post Bedroom view of the French Parterre

Marjorie Post Bathroom (renovated 1950s)

One of Marjorie's closets

A decorated switch plate

French Parterre in the tradition of the 1700s

Rose Garden with the column marking
the site of the ashes of Marjorie Post

Putting Green; Marjorie was a golfing enthusiast

Garden lamp borne by cherubs

Special Exhibit: Kristine Mays: Rich Soil features
three-dimensional dancing wire sculptures

Kent on stepping stones in the
Japanese-style Garden

Japanese-style Garden waterfall

Tamiko on the arched bridge (KSS)

Cutting Garden would normally provide arrangements
in the house, except for the Vladimir Kanevsky displays

More dancing wire sculptures by Kristine Mays
in front of the greenhouse

The greenhouse houses the exotic orchid collection

We were fortunate that Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens is on the reciprocal list for Tyler Arboretum members!