Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss purchased the Dumbarton Oaks estate in 1920, and established the garden.[4] The park is a naturalistic streamside garden area of 27 acres, beyond the 10 acre formal garden, designed by Beatrix Farrand.[5] In 1940, the Blisses gifted Dumbarton Oaks Park to the National Park Service, turning over creative control and upkeep of the plantings located there.[6] Both Montrose Park and Dumbarton Oaks Park were jointly listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 28, 1967.[7] Montrose Park obtained an individual listing on 2007.[7] In 1998 and 1999, Student Conservation Association groups restored the south stream path.[2] Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy has been formed to provide restoration.[8]
Cultural Landscape Report, Dumbarton Oaks Park, Rock Creek Park: Site history, existing conditions, and analysis and evaluation, Part 1. United States National Park Service. 2000. (Cultural Landscape Report, Dumbarton Oaks Park at the Internet Archive)