Commissioned by Karen Gram Scott, a socialite from Washington, D.C., Bois Doré (French for golden wood) was designed by architectural historian and preservationist Thomas Tileston Waterman and William Max Haussmann, who would later serve as the chief architect at the National Park Service National Capital Region jurisdiction. Waterman was not a licensed architect and collaborated on the project with his colleague Haussmann to meet the requirements of Virginia state building codes.[2]
Bois Doré was completed in 1951, and would be sold by Scott the next year to Chalmers and Barbara Wood. The couple divorced, and in 1967, it would be sold to Bryan Munroe and Charlotte Fredette Eagle, who would perform major renovations to the property, including the addition of a wine cellar in the basement, the conversion of the garage into a guest house, and the construction of a new six-car garage adjacent to the guest house, which would store antique vehicles before becoming a living space. Gardens designed by Ms. Eagle were added around the property, and a gazebo, a pavilion, and a tea house among other smaller structures were constructed at the home. The original exterior finishes and interior plaster walls, flooring, woodwork, and fireplaces as designed by Waterman and Haussmann remain intact.[3]