Tregaron Estate
{{short description|Historic house in Washington, D.C., United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox nrhp
| name = The Causeway
| nrhp_type =
| image = THE CAUSEWAY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.jpg
| caption =
| location = 3029 Klingle Road, NW, Washington, D.C.
| coordinates = {{coord|38|55|54|N|77|3|40|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = United States Washington, D.C.
| area =
| built = 1912
| architect = Charles A. Platt
| architecture = Colonial Revival
Georgian Revival
| designated_nrhp_type =
| refnum = 90000910
}}
Tregaron Estate, formerly known as The Causeway, is a country house and estate located in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Northwest, Washington, D.C.
The estate, built in 1912, was designed by architect Charles Adams Platt and landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman.
The original owners, Alice and James Parmelee, lived at the estate from the time of its construction until 1940.
From 1942 to 1958, it was occupied by Joseph E. Davies, who had served as United States ambassador to several countries, and his second wife, Post Cereal Company heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post.{{Cite book|title=Tregaron: A Magical Place|last=Kirsten|first=Larsen|publisher=Signature Book Printing, Inc.|year=2002|location=Gaithersburg, MD|pages=viii, 11–12}}{{Self-published source|date=May 2025}}
Today the estate is occupied by a campus of the Washington International SchoolRegistration Form, pg. 3 and the Tregaron Conservancy.
Grounds
The estate covers {{convert|20.5|acre|m2}}. In addition to the mansion, it includes a carriage house, greenhouse, gardener's residence, and a Russian-style dacha added by Ambassador and Mrs. Davies. The estate is notable for its varied architectural styles and landscape architecture by architect Charles A. Platt, who used the natural characteristics of the site in designing the estate. The mansion sits at the highest point of the grounds and provides views of the city to the south and the affluent Cleveland Park suburb to the north.Registration Form, pgs. 2–3 Stone retaining walls line the driveway, which is carried by a large stone bridge over a small stream, "The Causeway", from which the property's original name was derived.Registration Form, pg. 6
{{Infobox park
| name = Tregaron
| photo = File:37 00055 xl.jpg
| photo_width = 300
| photo_caption = Front View of Tregaron (1961), watercolor by Lily Spandorf.
| map =
| map_caption =
| type =
| location = Washington, D.C.
| lat_d =
| long_d =
| area = {{Convert|20|acre}}
| created =
| operator =
| visitation_num =
| status =
| open =
| website = {{URL|http://tregaronconservancy.org/}}
}}
History{{Citation needed|date=May 2025|reason=no sources}}
The property, originally part of a larger estate, "Twin Oaks", was bought in 1888 by Gardiner Greene Hubbard, founder of the National Geographic Society, and named "The Causeway". His daughter Mabel married Alexander Graham Bell and inherited the property, which she sold to James Parmelee, a Cleveland financier. Parmelee hired Charles Adams Platt to design a country house for the property. Platt employed Ellen Biddle Shipman as landscape architect for the project.
Image: Tregaron Conservancy looking toward the upper meadow 2013-05-31 17-59.jpg
After Parmelee's death, the estate was purchased in 1940 by Joseph E. Davies and his wife. Davies renamed the place "Tregaron" (the town of Saint Caron) after the town where his father, Edward Davies, was born in Ceredigion, Wales.
After Davies's death in 1958, the Washington International School purchased {{convert|6|acre|m2}} of the {{convert|20|acre|m2}},{{inconsistent|reason=Is it 20 acres or 20.5??|date=February 2020}} and the Tregaron Limited Partnership, purchased the remaining {{convert|14|acre|m2}}. Attempts to develop the space were opposed by the "Friends of Tregaron", a community group. In 2006, an agreement was reached whereby {{convert|13|acre|m2}} of the estate were to be conserved as open green space and managed by Tregaron Conservancy.
Architecture
The mansion is a two-story brick building in the Georgian style. In addition to the primary central block of about {{convert|30|ft|m}} by {{convert|170|ft|m}}, a one-story octagonal conservatory sits to the east, and to the west is a two-story service wing; though this wing is also two stories high, it is not as tall as the central block. Renovations undertaken in 1941 by the Davies family included small additions to the service wing and other aesthetic improvements. Further revisions in the early 1980s were undertaken in order to convert the estate into a school.Registration Form, pg. 7 The dacha, added in 1945, provides a view of Washington National Cathedral.Registration Form, pg. 15 A farmhouse dating back to 1890 sits at the edge of the estate and was converted to office space for the International School. A schoolhouse building was constructed in 1988 and was designed to complement the existing buildings.Registration Form, pg. 16
Filming location
The Tregaron estate mansion was extensively used for both interior and exterior scenes in the 1962 film Advise and Consent and the 1993 film The Pelican Brief.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
The humor coach scene in the 2006 film Borat was filmed in the Mansion (Room 205) of the Tregaron Campus. This room is usually used for Economics.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
{{NRHP url|id=90000910|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - The Causeway}} (pdf), National Park Service. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
External links
- [http://www.tregaronconservancy.org/about-us/ The Tregaron Conservancy]
- [https://www.wis.edu Washington International School]
- [https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/604 DC Preservation League]
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Causeway, The}}
Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Washington, D.C.
Category:Georgian Revival architecture in Washington, D.C.
Category:Houses completed in 1912
Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.