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[[underline]] Hillwood [[/underline]]

At the September 1975 meeting of the Board of Regents it was reported that income from the Hillwood Trust would not be adequate for the Smithsonian Institution to operate Hillwood under the terms required in the 1968 Agreement with Mrs. Post.  It was suggested that serious consideration should be given to the possibility of exercising the option provided by the Agreement to determine that the Smithsonian Institution cannot operate Hillwood as contemplated, thereby transferring ownership of the estate and its collections to the Marjorie Merriweather Post Foundation of D.C. 

There are still many variables outside our control which will determine the eventual annual income the Smithsonian could expect to receive for its Hillwood costs:

(1) The size of the Hillwood Trust.  Although established in Mrs. Post's Will as a $10 million trust, stock market prices will determine its actual value.  The best valuation we can probably hope for on the day of settlement of Mrs. Post's Will is the full $10 million; a more likely figure would be lower.

(2) The date of settlement of the estate.  The executors have been requesting and receiving successive six months extensions from the Internal Revenue Service on the payment of estate taxes,