Dumbarton Oaks, located on the highest point of the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, is a 27 acre oasis of gardens and a Federal style Mansion. The property was the home of Robert Woods Bliss and his wife Mildred Barnes Bliss in the1920s and 30s. Bliss worked with famed landscape architect Beatrix Farrand to transform what was once farmland into a series of terraced gardens, including an ellipse, a rose garden, a pool, an orangery and a cutting garden. In 1940, the property was given to Harvard University, Bliss’s alma mater, and today serves as a Research Institute in the studies of garden design, landscape architecture, Byzantine Art, and Pre-Columbian art. The Gardens will be closed July 10, 2017 through March 15, 2018 to undergo an extensive upgrade of their original irrigation systems. A visit before then if you are in the DC area is highly worth it for the properties’ breathtaking views and glorious gardens. We enjoyed an evening of cocktails in the Garden as part of the European Month of Culture….follow our journey below.