Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Tuesday, May 17, 2016 -- Mattie died 348 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken on May 11, 2009. At the Mattie March, he was greeted by the baseball coaches and the entire team! They even gave Mattie a signed ball! I heard later that day that the team won, and they all credited it to Mattie! 



Quote of the day: Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.' 'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing. ~ E.B. White


My parents and I toured Tudor Place today in Georgetown. It is rather funny that this historic house is right around the corner from me and after all these years of living in DC, I never visited it! It took my parents to visit for me to venture out. 

Tudor Place is one of America’s first National Historic Landmarks. It was built by a granddaughter of Martha Washington and a son of Robert Peter, a prominent Scottish-born merchant and landowner and Georgetown’s first mayor. With an inheritance from George Washington, Thomas and Martha Custis Peter purchased 8½ acres of farmland on Georgetown Heights. Dr. William Thornton, architect of the first U.S. Capitol and a family friend, designed the grand neoclassical house, which was completed in 1816.

The estate remained under continuous Peter family ownership through six generations spanning 178 years, its rooms a destination for leading politicians, military leaders, and dignitaries. After the 1983 death of Armistead Peter 3rd, the founders’ great-great-grandson, the site was opened to the public in accordance with his wishes. Now a historic house and garden museum, it remains one of the nation’s few historic urban estates retaining the majority of its original landscape. 

On 5½ acres, Tudor Place remains one of America’s last intact urban estates from the Federal Period. Its open lawns and garden rooms are a delight and a useful historical record of land use over time. Thomas and Martha Custis Peter put their land to agricultural and ornamental uses. Trees and shrubs they cultivated still grow on the site today.

Surrounding the historic house, one can find a variety of gardens including formal gardens, natural woodland settings, English perennial gardens and more. 

Through six generations of peace and war, nation-building and political upheaval, prosperity and financial hardship, four members of the Peter family owned and preserved the property. Under their stewardship, the gardens evolved from urban farmstead uses to recreational and ornamental purposes, changing along with the wider economy and culture.

Despite the intense winds and rains, the roses were in full bloom! 

The beauty of this beautifully planned garden!