Meridian Hill Park was built from 1912 to 1940, and is part of the National Park Service. Mary Henderson, the wife of a former Senator, started promoting uses for the property in 1898, including using it for a Presidential mansion instead of the White House, or for the Lincoln Memorial. She was instrumental in the creation of the park and the development of the surrounding area.
The gardens were designed by landscape architect George Burnap, and later by Horace Peaslee, modeled after Italian villas, and constructing the largest cascading fountain in the U.S. The walls, benches, and other structures are made out of concrete aggregate, which has pebbles imbedded in concrete and was a newly-developed building material at that time. This door is one of a pair set in the wall at the top of the cascading fountain.
The park was designated as the first National Historical Landmark in the Designed Landscape category, in 1994.