The Garden

Thomas Peter, a landowner and tobacco merchant, and his wife, Martha Custis Peter, granddaughter of Martha Washington, purchased 8 1/2 acres on the outskirts of Georgetown in 1805. Today, the remaining 5 1/2 acres of this unique garden maintain much of the original Federal period design. In the early-19th century the family had many different requirements for the land including orchards, vegetable gardens, a stable, and grazing land for cows and horses. Six successive generations of the Peter family cared for and embellished the landscape as Georgetown and the Federal City grew around them. The last owner, Armistead Peter 3rd, completed major projects during the mid-20th century that shaped the gardens we see today.

Bowling Green

The Bowling Green was Armistead Peter 3rd's favorite spot
in the garden. At the one end is the brick-edged Lily Pool
adorned with a statue by sculptor Paul Wayland Bartlett,
stepfather to his first wife, Caroline. In 1909 Bartlett designed
a portion of the pediment for the House wing of the U.S. Capitol
Building, and is well represented in the Tudor Place collection.
At the opposite end of the Bowling Green, terraced above, is the
Summer House that offers a delightful view of the garden framed
by sculptures of greyhounds.

Tennis Lawn

The Tennis Court Garden was originally a peach orchard. In 1885, the area was leveled for the Tudor Place Lawn Tennis Club. President Grover Cleveland used to pause and watch the games on his way from the White House to his summer home in what is now the District of Columbia's Cleveland Park. The tennis court was removed in the early-20th century and the beautiful lawn was created with a screen of white pine, American holly, and magnolias. Kousa dogwoods (Cornus kousa), crepe myrtles, and hydrangeas add seasonable displays of color.
back to top

Flower Knot

Much of the boxwood at Tudor Place, including the remaining boxwood of the original Flower Knot, was planted by Martha Custis Peter. The reconstruction of the original Flower Knot in a new location took place in 1926, when the owners discovered the design had been copied at Avenel, around 1820.

Today you see many heirloom roses including moss, hybrid tea and old musk as well as the floribunda rose, Rosa Gruss an Auchan, a favorite of Caroline Peter, the last owner's wife. At the center of the Flower Knot stands the sundial from Crossbasket Castle, the ancestral home of the Peter family in Scotland.

Boxwood Ellipse

Tudor Place is renowned for its boxwood. The English Boxwood Ellipse (Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa') was planted by Martha and Thomas Peter as the focal point for the approach to the main entrance of the house.
Martha Peter also planted the boxwood that makes up the East Garden. During the Civil War trespassers plundered the boxwood for Christmas wreaths. Many of the remaining bushes were moved ca. 1862 to the Lower Walk.

Japanese Tea House

The Tea House, built by Armistead Peter 3rd for outdoor lunches, offers a shady seat to view the Temple Portico of house. Next to the Tea House, the Rose Arbor is covered with a wonderful yellow rose and a coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). An arbor has been
in this location since the house was built. One owner remembers the perfume of the white lilacs just outside the old kitchen door. These lilacs were planted by Britannia Kennon and are still growing.

Tulip Poplar

The large Tulip Poplar located at the southeast corner of the lawn
is 20 feet in circumference and over 100 feet tall. In 2002, it was
designated the "Millenium Landmark Tree" for the District of
Columbia by the America the Beautiful Fund. The South Lawn once provided an area for cattle to graze and a view of the port of Georgetown. The Tulip Poplar trees and American holly are original to the property.