Women Who Shaped Garden History
Mildred Barnes Bliss was the patron, collaborator, and guiding vision behind Dumbarton Oaks, one of the great gardens of the 20th century. Her partnership with designer Beatrix Farrand lasted nearly thirty years and produced a garden that is both a work of art and a center of scholarly study.
Bliss and her husband Robert Woods Bliss purchased the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., in 1920. Mildred's vision for the property was clear from the beginning: she wanted a garden that would be beautiful, intellectually rigorous, and eventually available to the public. She selected Beatrix Farrand as the designer, and the two women worked closely together for decades, corresponding in detail about every aspect of the garden's development.
Bliss was not a passive patron. She was deeply involved in every design decision, and the extensive correspondence between Bliss and Farrand (preserved at Dumbarton Oaks) reveals a true creative partnership. Bliss had studied and traveled widely, and she brought ideas from Italian, French, and English gardens to the project. She and her husband donated the property to Harvard University in 1940, along with their collections of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art, ensuring that Dumbarton Oaks would serve as both a garden and a research institution.