Dumbarton Oaks Author:Susan Tamulevich, Ping Amranand, Philip Johnson The Dumbarton Oaks Research and Study Center in Washington, D.C., administered by Harvard University, is a famed museum and study center specializing in pre-Columbian art, Byzantine studies, and garden history and design. Long known for its museum pavilion, designed by the noted architect Philip Johnson, Dumbarton Oaks sits within one of the mos... more »t spectacular gardens in America. The founders of Dumbarton Oaks, Mildred and Robert W. Bliss, were important American philanthropists; the garden was developed between 1920 and 1965 by Mildred Bliss. She worked with several designers, the most significant of whom was the American landscape designer Beatrix Farrand. The romantic but disciplined design, a series of small individual terraces and winding walkways, reflects the character of Mildred Bliss: her place in society, her travels, and her spiritual ideals. Cool formality, joyful opulence, and feelings of intimacy, reticence, and artlessness are all present in the garden. Private, public, and utilitarian areas coexist within the integrated whole.« less