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Most Endangered Places
2005

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Most Endangered Places for 2005

TREGARON ESTATE (THE CAUSEWAY)

3100 MACOMB STREET, NW

STEWARD: TREGARON LIMIITED PARTNERSHIP
NOMINATED BY: FRIENDS OF TREGARON FOUNDATION
DC INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PLACES (1979)

Built in 1912 by architect Charles Adam Platt for owner James Parmalee, Tregaron is a twenty-oneacre site consisting of open fields and woodlands with meandering streams. At that time most ofthis segment of northwest Washington was occupied by farms, summer houses, and isolatedsuburban villas. Charles Adam Platt was the era’s foremost architect and landscape architect ofcountry houses in America. Ellen Biddle Shipman, an apprentice in Platt’s office, collaborated withPlatt on Tregaron Estate. Shipman is widely recognized for her contributions to the field oflandscape architecture, particularly as a horticulturalist. Tregaron was the second collaborationbetween Shipman and Platt. Platt planned the circulation pattern for the site along with the formalgardens and Ellen Biddle Shipman completed the planning plans in 1914. In 1927 she was hiredagain to design a wild garden for the Causeway. The landscape includes hardscape features such asstone bridges, retaining walls and the causeway along with a formal garden, a pond, bridle path and abrook.

In 1980, Tregaron Development Corporation and the Washington International School purchasedthe site. The school owns 6 acres in the northwest portion of the site that includes all of thelandmark’s historic structures. The remaining 14 acres owned by the partnership includes many ofthe site’s landscape features. The landscape has been allowed to deteriorate and Ellen BiddleShipman’s design is barely recognizable. Development has threatened the green space of the estate anumber of times. Most recently, the owners of the fourteen undeveloped acres have sought permitsto begin construction of 16 new houses and carving a new road through the sloping, grassy meadow,drastically altering the appearance of the site.The Friends of Tregaron Foundation, Cleveland Park Citizens Association, Cleveland ParkHistorical Society and the ANC have passed resolutions in opposition to the development.

The Friends of Tregaron are actively searching for alternative buyers that would purchase Tregaron andplace easements on the property and restore the landscape

Actions/Next Steps:

• DCPL will assist by encouraging the Friends of Tregaron to work with the owner to restore the landscapeand find a suitable long-term arrangement (conservancy, etc) for the maintenance of the Estate.
• The DCPL Project Review Committee will review the proposed development of the site and provide adviceand assistance on its placement and impact on the historic landmark
  

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