A few weeks ago, Charles and I took a little road trip up to Washington, DC with his parents. My father-in-law’s cousin passed away in August, and just 13 days later, his wife followed. They lived out west and I only had the pleasure of meeting them once, but let me just say…witnessing a funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery is an incredibly moving experience.

Since we already had to be in DC, we decided to stay the weekend and made a trip to one of my new favorite places, the Hillwood Estate.

Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to Post & General Mills cereal brands and DC socialite, bought Hillwood in 1955. The estate sits on 25 acres in northwest DC, and the house is filled with Marjorie’s favorite decor styles: 18th Century French and Imperial Russian. She quickly decided that she wanted to use her home as a museum to inspire and educate the public. You can read more about the house here.

First of all, let me warn you: I took a gazillion pictures. And by gazillion I mean like 300. No joke. This place was amazing. However, all photos were taken with my iPhone, so the quality may not be top notch. Anyway, here we go.

The exterior is beautiful, but somewhat unassuming. Sure, it’s a big house, but there’s nothing that really blows you away at first. I do, however, love the landscaped circle drive.

But if the front exterior doesn’t blow you away, just wait until you step foot into this grand foyer. Marjorie traveled the globe and brought back art and other finds from her many trips. Her husband served as ambassador in Russia for a time, which sparked her interest in Russian imperial art.

If you head to the left, you’ll stumble upon the butler’s pantry (in green) and kitchen (in yellow). In her time, Marjorie had state-of-the-art appliances. The staff area, behind the kitchen, was very comfortable. It was noted that Marjorie paid her staff 30% more than the typical staff salary at the time, and that she really considered her workers part of the family. In fact, her own children would often eat in the staff dining room.

The dining room was truly breathtaking. I love that she used two massive chandeliers instead of one in this tremendous room. Off the dining room is a small breakfast room as well.

The den is just off the dining room in the back center of the house. This room feels cozy and a little less formal (although “less formal” in this house is still very very formal by most standards). The painting above the fireplace is of Marjorie’s father, who died when she was young, leaving the Postum Cereal Company to her.

The showcase room is a show stopper for sure. Guests would have had to walk through this room after dinner to get from the dining room to the formal living room, and it was mainly used to show off Marjorie’s extensive collection of fine china, Faberge Eggs, and other treasures from around the world.

The formal living room was probably my favorite of the entertaining spaces. There was a lot of pink, so duh. The moldings, the massive art murals, the stunning chandelier, the French-inspired furniture, the grand piano…it’s all just perfect. Is anyone starting to feel like Downton yet?

The pavilion was set up truly as a room for entertaining. With purple suede on the walls and TV trays built into the matching purple settees, it was the perfect place to screen a show or to have live actors or music. There is even a balcony to get the full theater effect.

There are so many details in the house that are just ridiculously cool. There are no plain floors in the house. They all have some sort of pattern and/or story. No two rooms are the same. Plus, we even got to see an antique Louis Vuitton trunk!

As you can probably tell from the sheer quantity of photos I just shared (and that was WAY pared down), covering the whole estate in one blog post just wasn’t working for me. So come back tomorrow and I’ll be sharing part 2 of the tour, which includes the bedrooms, gardens, and even an exhibit of Marjorie’s actual dresses. See you then!