Cultural Landscape Report Part II: Linnaean Hill

Williams, Brenda; Redding, Stephanie Austin; Smith, Dustin; Ricketson, Kate; Lawrence, Rebekah; Kennedy, Adjoa

Linnaean Hill is an integral piece of Washington DC’s horticultural and recreational history. Developed by the Peirce-Klingle family between 1823 and 1890, the property was home to one of the District’s first horticultural nurseries and was later designed as a pleasure ground in the Picturesque style. Today, the Linnaean Hill property, which is located at 3545 Williamsburg Lane, NW, is comprised of approximately 32 acres at the southwest edge of Rock Creek Park. It encompasses the entirety of Tract 79, transferred from Joshua Peirce Klingle to the federal government following the 1890 creation of the park. The following narrative is taken from the 2024 updated Linnaean Hill Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI), adapted from the 2011 Linnaean Hill National Register Nomination, to provide a brief historical context: Linnaean Hill, which is located within Rock Creek Park, is one of the most intact nineteenth-century estates set along Rock Creek in what had historically been Washington County, now Northwest Washington, D.C. The centerpiece of this historic property is the Peirce-Klingle Mansion, an imposing granite dwelling that is a vernacular interpretation of the Federal style. The mansion, which was built in 1823, and the contemporaneous carriage house/stable, utility shed and potting shed, as well as other horticultural-related buildings that are no longer extant, were presumably designed and constructed under the direction of property owner, Joshua Peirce. The first horticulturalist to operate a general nursery in the District of Columbia, Peirce established himself by collecting native plants, purchasing seeds from respected wholesalers, and using innovative propagation and grafting techniques. Peirce was greatly influenced by the philosophies espoused in the early nineteenth century by Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander Jackson Davis in his design and placement of the building and landscape features at Linnaean Hill. The bucolic property is believed to have originally presented an early formal neoclassical garden design that was altered by Peirce into a Picturesque style landscape after the primary activities of the nursery were relocated. Remnants of these notable landscape designs, perpetuated by Peirce’s grandnephew and namesake, Joshua Peirce Klingle, remain in part at Linnaean Hill alongside the Colonial Revival style landscape implemented misguidedly in the 1930s. A part of Rock Creek Park since 1890 and under the direction of the National Park Service since 1933, Linnaean Hill possesses a distinct character that cannot be found elsewhere within Rock Creek or Washington, D.C. The buildings, structures, historic circulation systems, materials, and organization all contribute to the historic horticultural and Picturesque style designed landscape associated with Joshua Peirce and his Linnaean Hill Nursery. Today, the condition of the cultural landscape has been heavily effected by its release to succession since the nineteenth century. Invasives and other vegetation now block historic views and obscure or threaten other character defining features, including historic circulation and vegetation, but this growth also serves to screen the property from developments on adjacent lands. Although the overall historic integrity of the site has been compromised by these factors, increased maintenance and rehabilitation work in recent years have helped to improve its condition. The Peirce Klingle Estate at Linnaean Hill and the surrounding area is a remnant landscape of a nineteenth-century nursery and Picturesque style tree park that functions in the twenty-first century as a recreational area as well as a historic site and remains in fair condition ("National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory. Final CLI Update. Washington; DC: US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2024). Linnaean Hill is a historic vernacular landscape and a historic designed landscape significant under Criterion A for its association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history; Criterion B for its association with noted Washington, DC horticulturalist Joshua Peirce; Criterion C for embodying the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction; and under Criterion D for its potential to yield information important to the historical development of the property. This Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) supports the determination of significance made in the 2024 updated CLI as well as the primary period of significance from 1823 to 1890. The Cultural Landscape Report addresses characteristics and features documented in the CLI and recommends rehabilitation as the treatment approach. This approach supports preservation of extant features from the period of significance and allows for compatible change to improve the ability of the landscape to support inclusive visitor experience and interpret significant themes and landscape features. Long-term treatment of the Linnaean Hill cultural landscape emphasizes rehabilitation with a focus on restoring Picturesque principles of landscape design and interpreting the site’s horticultural past.

Cultural Landscape Report Part II: Linnaean Hill

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