Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens consists of a historic home and surrounding gardens. The Georgian mansion was originally designed in 1926; and was purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post cereal fortune, in 1955. The extensive gardens reflect a variety of influences and include a Japanese garden, one of the last remaining examples of the type of oriental gardens influenced by the reintroduction of the Japanese culture to America during the 1950s. Today the estate has one of the most comprehensive collections of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Russian Imperial art outside of Russia, as well as an extensive collection of eighteenth-century French decorative arts. Highlights include a diamond crown worn by Empress Alexandra at her marriage to Nicholas II; Beauvais tapestries designed by François Boucher; two Imperial Easter eggs by Carl Fabergé; La Nuit by William-Adolphe Bouguereau; and a collection of costumes and accessories worn by Mrs. Post or her family. Many artifacts can be viewed in the mansion.
The estate offers an introductory film; period rooms; exhibits; Acoustiguide tours for the home, gardens, Russian collection, and French collection, as well as a tour designed for children; guided tours of the mansion and gardens; self-guided written tours; custom tours; sign language, oral, or cued speech interpreters—with advance notice; Braille information guides; a resource area; and a non-circulating art research library. The website offers digital access to the collections.