Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

This guide to Hillwood Estate in Washington, D.C. centers on cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, who in 1969 gave the Smithsonian Institution her mansion, gardens, and ten million dollars to house her collection of Russian imperial treasures. It traces the strict conditions she attached, including fresh flowers daily in every room and tight rules on displaying her Faberge eggs and imperial portraits, and the toast the Smithsonian's own leader raised to the gift that January. The rooms still hold the largest collection of Russian imperial treasures outside Russia.