Enid A. Haupt Garden
The Smithsonian Institution Building with the Enid A. Haupt Garden seen in the foreground
Enid A. Haupt Garden is located in Central Washington, D.C.
Enid A. Haupt Garden
Location1037-1057 Independence Avenue Southwest, Washington, D.C.
Coordinates38°53′17″N 77°01′34″W / 38.88805°N 77.026°W / 38.88805; -77.026
Area4.2 acres (1.7 ha)
OpenedMay 21, 1987
Owned bySmithsonian Institution

The Enid A. Haupt Garden is a 4.2 acre public garden in the Smithsonian complex, adjacent to the Smithsonian Institution Building (the "Castle") on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.[1][2][3] It was designed to be a modern representation of American Victorian gardens as they appeared in the mid to late 19th century.[2][4] It replaced an existing Victorian Garden which had been built to celebrate the nation's Bicentennial in 1976.[5]

History

Lady Bird Johnson strolls in the Haupt Garden with its donor Enid A. Haupt (left)

The garden opened on May 21, 1987, as part of the redesigned Castle quadrangle.[6] It is named for Enid A. Haupt, who provided the $3 million endowment which financed its construction and maintenance.[1][2][3] Initially approached with a request that she finance a small Zen garden within the quadrangle, after a review of the plans Haupt said that she was "not interested in putting money into a Zen garden...I'm only interested in financing the whole thing."[7]

The quadrangle redesign project and the Smithsonian Gardens more broadly were part of the vision of the eighth Secretary of the Smithsonian, S. Dillon Ripley, who felt that the museum experience should extend beyond the museums' buildings into the outdoor spaces.[5]

The landscape design of the garden featured the collaborative efforts of architect Jean Paul Carlhian, principal in the Boston firm of Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott; Lester Collins; Sasaki Associates Inc. of Watertown, Massachusetts; and James R. Buckler, founding director of the Smithsonian's Office of Horticulture.[6]

The central feature of the garden is a symmetrically patterned parterre, flanked by the Moongate Garden to the west and the Fountain Garden to the east.[2][4] The parterre measures 144 feet long by 66 feet wide; the low-growing plants that fill out the series of diamonds, fleurs-de-lis, and scallops or swags that make up the design are changed every six months, typically in September and May.[3][8]

Other notable design features include saucer and tulip magnolias, brick walkways, and historical cast-iron garden furnishings from the Smithsonian Gardens' Garden Furniture Collection.[2][6] The Andrew Jackson Downing Urn is within a circle in the northeast portion of the parterre.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Smithsonian Gardens. "Enid A. Haupt Garden". Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Review of Enid A. Haupt Garden". Frommer's review. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Enid A. Haupt Garden". The Cultural Landscape Foundation’. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 Smithsonian Gardens. "History in Bloom". Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  5. 1 2 Crawford, Kelly. "Smithsonian Gardens: Among Washington's Iconic Landscapes". Smithsonian Collections Blog. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Smithsonian Institution. "Enid A. Haupt Garden | Exhibitions". Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  7. ↑ Park, Edwards; Carlhian, Jean Paul (1987). A new view from the Castle : the Smithsonian Institution's quadrangle : Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, National Museum of African Art, S. Dillon Ripley Center, Enid A. Haupt Garden. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 57. ISBN 0-87474-749-X.
  8. ↑ Ottesen, Carole (2011). A Guide to Smithsonian Gardens. Smithsonian Books. pp. 42. ISBN 978-1-58834-300-0.
  9. ↑ (1) "The Downing Urn in the Enid A. Haupt Garden". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
    (2) "DOWNING, Andrew Jackson: Urn on the east side of the Arts & Industries Bldg in Washington, D.C. by Robert E Launitz, Calvert Vaux". dcMemorials.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
    (3) "Andrew Jackson Downing, (sculpture)". Smithsonian American Art Museum: Art Inventories Catalog. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
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