Dunn Gardens, situated just north of Seattle, was originally the country estate of Arthur and Jeannette Dunn. 

While the Olmsted Brothers firm was working on public projects in Seattle, many wealthy businessmen hired the well-known firm to design the grounds of their private estates. In 1914, salmon cannery owner Arthur G. Dunn and his wife Jeanette purchased 10-acres of land in what is now the Broadview neighborhood. The following year, the Dunns hired Olmsted Brothers to locate a cottage and develop a landscape plan to surround their future summer home.

In the 1916 plan, firm member James Frederick Dawson embraced the beauty of the place, creating a landscape that offered curving paths and incredible views of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Native conifers and eastern hardwoods, coupled with sweeping lawns, embodied the Olmsted philosophy of designing with nature. Born and raised on the East Coast, Dunn loved the East Coast hardwoods and asked that they be worked into the garden’s design and plant mix. A hundred years later, most of his favorite hardwoods still create focal points and visual structures in the gardens. 

Dunn’s death in 1945 spurred a series of changes. This included the removal and replacement of the original summer house and the development of a two-and-a-half-acre woodland garden designed by son Edward Bernard Dunn. Ed Dunn also converted the garage into a cottage, where he lived until his death in 1992. Despite these changes, the Olmsted landscape remains intact. 

In 1993, the E.B. Dunn Historic Garden Trust was created to open the place up for public enjoyment. The property is a Washington State Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.