Evening Star Newspaper, April 14, 1929, Page 106

~ 4 P T— THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, APRIL 14, 1920—PART T. Westover, with its box-bordered walk. This home was once owned by William Byrd, but it is now the property of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Crone. Reveille, the home of Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Crutchfield at BY NANCY MUNCE. OME stroll through the historic gardens of Virginia this Spring. You will find in these beauty spots, reminiscent of Colonial days, the spirit of old English landscapes. Clothed in the verdant rai- ment of April, the grounds of these an- cient estates are glorified at this season of the year. The invitation is extended to you. You will do well to avail your- gelf of the rare opportunity, for in all America there are no gardens more beautiful and none richer in historic lore. For 11 days, beginning Monday, April 29, through Friday, May 10 (omit- ting Sunday, May 5), to be known as Historic Garden week, many of the fa- mous old gardens in every section of Virginia will be for the first time opened to the public, and a general invitation to visit them has been secured from the owners through the Garden Club of Virginia and the Kenmore Association, which are planning a pflglmuge to the ens in their effort raise funds or the restoration of the grounds at Kenmore, the home of Col. Fielding .Lewis and his wife, Betty Washington. % ¥ K X IN Virginia, beginning with the Colo- nial period, the garden was an inte- gral part of every home, however hum- ble, inextricably bound up with the life of the ple, and exerting an influence which been indelibly written across Virginia today possesses more Colo- nial gardens than any other State, the oldest having been planned and planted before the corner stone of America was primarily laid in its soil. These gar- dens were laid out or rather carved out of the virgin forests. ‘The earliest settlers in Virginia were English people, and they brought with them treasured memories of the gardens of Norfolk, England, from whence they came. The Stuart cavalier who fol- lowed built the Colonial mansions and surrounded them with gardens, whose designs were copies of the gardens in the country on the other side of the Atlantic. From these Old World gar- dens seeds as well as plants were brought across the sea to bloom on in the New World. So mirroring their heritage of England in house and gar- den, and passing on to each succeeding ation in Virginia the beauty and e of flowers and the dl;nlity of Eng- dens into places of great beauty, which were the pride and the delight of their owners. It is perfectly natural that these gar- dens should become a great outdoor drawing room for the Mansion, and it was here in the succeeding sunlight and Richmond. are as much a part of the home as the house itself. * % ok * A’r Fredericksburg, Va., is Kenmore, the home of Mary Washington Lewis, the only sister of George Wash- ington, and therefore of more than pessing national interest. The restora- tion of Kenmore has been undertaken by the Kenmore Assoclation. It was therefore but natural that the Garden Club of Virginia, composed largely of people who inherited the appreciation of the beauty in a garden and its part in a Colonial home, should undertake the restoration of the Kenmore garden to its original setting of pre-Revolution- ary days. The writer has been fortunate in hav- ing visited most of these Virginia ger- dens from time to time and knows what a wonderfu! opportunity this offers to see the treasures of Colonial Virginia which have been preserved in the pri- vate homes and gardens of the succes- sors to those who made such a large place in our national life. Today al- most every one owns a motor car, and these places of historical interest and beauty are almost around the corner. To outline such a trip and to tempt your interest I thumb the leaves of my note book and wonder what to offer you first. The route suggested here of- fers the greatest possibility to see in a limited time, and without any material retracing of steps, most of Virginia's historical homes and gardens. Through interest in our national shrines are these courtesies extended, and if we love our country, its heroes and heroines, then we must know and preserve the background from which they sprang. Come with me now as I try to intro- duce you to the present glories, living, treasured, loved, monuments in them- selves of Virginia's famous past. These are not the obvious places that the casual tourist can see at any time, but are the private homes, houses and gar- dens of the descendants and successors to Colonial Virginia. Nor are they in- teresting only to antiquarians or horti- cultural experts, but to all of us. Leaving Washington and going to Gunston Hall, which is 18 miles from Washington on the road to Richmond, we visit the home of George | j Mason of Revolutionary days, author of the Virginia bill of rights, and which wl.l:x built by hl!}n :Jn 1112551 g;he rden on a perfectly -level ‘f:lu, reduced from the irregularity of hill top. The south front of the man- sion faces the Potomac River, and from a little portico on this front one looks toward the river, between two | e of Engish box, twiee the nelgnc T o a tall man, and 220 feet long. Doubtless it was Col. Mason’s intention when he planted this box (slips of ‘which were probably brought from Eng- land) to keep it trimmed in the low formal style then customary, with a spacious walk between the rows, This was evidently not done, as witness the great height of the box now. A lead- ing authority in this country estimates this box to be about 40 years older than the box at Mount Vernon, v Possibly wfi from Gunston Hall box were sent to Mount Vernon to start the lovely planting of box there, for ex- changes were 1 ently made, as we learn from in - { Union the place of Hi ckory Hill, the home of Col.a nd Mrs. Henry Wic kham. Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, who wrote the original Virginia bill of rights. Stratford, thc home of Robert . Lee. It will soon be restored. Plans for Restoration of Kenmore, the Home of Betty Washington, Opens the Gates of Many Colonial Virginia Gardens for a Spring Pilgrimage of Visitors During Historic Garden Week—Itinerary for Tour of Estates Outlined. the box-walk is surrounded with s thick hedge of climbing roses. An ivy and wistaria-covered tea house overlooks the Potomac. 1f Gunston's gardens could talk, what interesting conversation they would be able to repeat. For here it was that Washington and Mason discussed the Fairfax Resolves, that threw down the gauntlet of independence; Patrick Henry, visiting the philosophical Mason, gathered the fuel for the fires of his eloquence; rd Henry and Arthur Lee arguing with Mason the French Alliance; Rochambeau and Lafayette ourneying north after the ry Yorktown, were honored guests at Gunston Hall, and Jefferson and Madi- son came straight there from Mount Vernon to get Mason's views as to the location of the National Capital. Truly Gunston Hall aided in the of the new Nation. As you come out of Gunston Hall pass old Pohick Church, shrines, and one of the best examples of late Colonial architecture. From Pohjck Church you would go to Fredericksburg, where Kenmore is located. The story of Kenmore has been told so often that we need not re- peat it here. Near Fredericksburg {s, Chatham, which was bufit in 1728 by wun.zl from varieties The site of the old garden, which was terraced to_ the river, is supposed to have been the lfit where the courtship ted, for under the , overlooking ock, Mary Custis ised to be his wife. 'flmreum&l” 50 many happy memories it was saved. Located on the Tidewater Trail, east of Fredericksburg, is Wakefield, where George Wi n was . have been destroyed, ‘akefield Eofedt e N E Snowden, built in early 1700; Hill, built in 1720, and Marimon, from which the drawing room was recently sold to the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum. * ok kX FROM Predericksburg drive on to Richmond, and from Richmond go out to see Hickory Hill. This planta- tion came into the ssion _of the Carter family in 1734. The pleasure garden, as it was called, is a rectangular E:t of ground 350 by 440 feet, contain- approximately four acres, and ad- Joining it a vegetable garden of approxi- mately two acres. Its real glory is the “box-walk,” an avenue of boxwood trees varying from 30 to 40 feet in height, extending a distance of 300 feet in a ,dnubu line from the entrance gate and forming a perfect arch above the 15- foot walkway. To the right of the en- !unm. flanked on each side by lines of suffruticosa box, beyond which extend Ien each side formal flower beds edged with dwarf box. Here are some of the joriginal roses brought by Anne Carte: ]!rom Shirley in 1820. To the left ex- tends a small maze of box, with beds 1785; Fall {qt the feet of tall magnolia trees. To the left of the entrance gate we find & gravel walk 340 feet long, the first 100 feet being flanked with rose Beyond are the tall crepe myrtles, calycanthus jand pyrus-japonica bushes, as well as quils and periwinkle. I garden would be No account of this Letters of Gen. R. E. states “a clump of box trees afforded a safe place for concealment.” Coming back Richmond, go_ to i Revellle, ol the Cary Street road. {1s one of the oldest houses in the vicin- {1ty of Richmond, and here see one of the most charming of gar- to tradition it got its uring the Revolution. T | else in America. If lined off, iof lily of the valley and hardy begonia, | finds 4 you see the one-room school buildin where Thomas Jefferson went to school. Scattered about the garden and over the lawn are four varieties of narcissi and beyond the schoolhouse is the gar- den, which is the real feature of Tucka- hoe. We enter through a simple wood- en gate, to be greeted at this time of he year by two violet beds in full joom; these are box-hedged. Looking east, there is a charming vista down a turfed alley lined with old-fashioned box, and called the Ghost Walk. This lies below the formal garden, cut up into 57 beds, with.grass plots in between. These paths are so narrow that only one person can walk there at a time, and they are separated from the flower beds by dwarf box hedging. This gar- den of many beds is known as the maze, and covers about an acre. Only tall flowers like lthox' hollyhocks and larkspur can I their heads high enough to show to advantage, as the box average from two to four hedges of feet in height. It is figured that there | hocl is probably more of the old-fashioned dwarf box at Tuckahoe than anywhere by- actual measurement it would extend more than one and a half miles. Here one also roses, rocket, peonies and chrysanthemums, poflplu, delphinium and phlox. Digl- grows around the lilac clumps, and these with crepe myrtle and spiraea, in- with a cedar here and a d | eyonymus there. appear to have been garden. planted to point up the * * XKk Richmond you turn east to- the cradle of the Nation, go- to Shirley, the home of the ‘The house at Shirley is not- able for its elaborate paneling, hand- carved woodwork and interesting family portraits and furniture. This old place is 30 miles below Richmond on the James River. The writer well remem- bers a visit to Shirley when the Sps loom and being greetes 'ROM F ward ;8 ;E Eg' ije of Colonial cavalier, with courtly man- ners, dressed fu brilliant coats, flowing ruffies and satin small clothes, wearing silver bucklers and using jeweled snuff boxes. He was the founder of the City of Richmond and left his mark writ large in the history of the State. It is interesting to imagine Willlam Byrd and his companions, who repre- sented the English nobility transplanted to America, as they strolled down the graveled walks two centuries ago, dressed in the fashion of the day, ad- dressing the beauties who, with pow dered hair, fans and patches, in gowns of flowered silk, walked with them here when the garden was young. These same graveled walks in their early days must have known, too, the soft tread of the moccasined Indians, stern of face and guttural of tongue, for Byrd was pioneer as well as gentleman. In the garden are many flowering shgubs, quaint sweet williams, forget~ me-nots, iris, clove-pinks, peonies, holly- ks and everywhere roses. But the most outstanding flowers are the count- less bunches of olti-fashioned primroses, yellow and red, commonly called cow- slips. Also in the garden, amid the scenes which he loved most dearly, is tulips, cornflowers, sweet|the tomb of Byrd, gentleman, planter, pioneer, described to posterity on the stone which marks his grave, “Born to ample fortune, was of brilliant mind, a%l:‘r‘a‘geouu spirit and kindly dis From Westover go to Williamsburg, which was originally known as the Mid- die Plantation. The Colonial Govern- ment was moved from Jamestown to Willlamsburg in 1700, and at this date the name of the plantation was changed to Williamsburg in honor of William of Orange.. Here we find William and Mary College, founded in 1693; Bruton Parish Church, built in 1676, and in continuous i use ever since, and many other histori- cal Khum The restoration of historical ‘Williamsburg is being done through the interest and financial aid of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, jr. So much has been written about Williamsburg recently that all are familiar with the things of interest to be seen. - * ok k * NIN! miles from Willlamsburg Is Yorktown, which was begun in 1691, and made famous when Cornwal- lis surrendered to the Continental troops in 1781. Three-quarters of a mile out of town is the Moore house, where the terms of surrender were drawn up and signed. This house is being restored mldn icyh :;ll worth l«ln(.uu bl ‘orl ywn proper is el house, built in 1740, with its walled garden of and cre) 1;. ‘When Cornwallis took Yorktown, Kenmore, the home of Betty Touring the-Famous Old Gardens of Virginia’s Fabled Estates Washington. It will be restored by the Garden Club of Virginia and the Kenmore Association. Imbedded in the brick wall one sees even today an old cannon ball, a grim reminder of the Revolutionary War. A few miles from Yorktown, on the other side of Willlamsburg, is James- town, where on May 13, 1607, the first Virginia colonists made their second landing, and which was to be the first permanent colony, having landed at Cape Henry about a month earlier. The tower of the original church, which was built in 1607, still stands. In this church Pocahontas was baptized and married in 1614. Here the first Leg- islative Assembly in America convened in 1619. Jamestown remained the seat of government until 1700, when Wil- liamsburg became the seat of govern- ment; then Jamestown passed into the hands of private plantation owners. Taking a ferry at Jamestown, cross the James River and go next to Brandon, which is located on the south side of | the James. The house here is very in- teresting, not only from an architectural standpoint, but from the fact that many famous Virginians were born within its walls, and many more have been shel- tered under its hospitable roof. The original name of this estate was Mar- tin's Brandon, so called for the first own- er. He abandoned it, however, and in 1835 it was patented by Richard Quincy, whose brother married Judith, the daughter of Willilam Shakespeare. In 1719 the place became the property of Nathaniel Harrison, and through the succeeding years has been known as a Harrison place. It is now owned by Mr, Robert W. Daniel of New York, a | Virginian by birth. ‘The garden of gardens in Virginia is that of Brandon, filled with the old- fashioned flowers so loved by our for- bears, and which we, the present gen- eration. have known since childhood. There is a doudle line of box across the front of the house on both sides, | which continues down each side of the front grounds for about 400 feet: here | it joins enormous bowers of lilac. In| this garden we find many fine old specimens of spiraea, syringa, weigela, calycanthus, crepe myrtle, snow ball (known to our grandmothers as guelder rose), and all the other old-fashioned shrubs so loved in days gone by The narrow walks in the garden are edged with yellow brimroses or cowslips and | sweet” violets, blue and white. The' charm of this garden will live always, and one who is fortunate enough to visit Brandon will jeel an awakening of all that is poetic in his soul. * K ¥ % 'ROM Brandon we drive to Peters- burg. ' Here there are several in-| teresting places to see—old Blandford Church, which was built in 1735, lndI the battlegrounds of the Battle of the Crater. For those who are not pressed for time, instead of going from Brandon to Petersburg, we can well add to our trip by going to Suffolk and the Nor- folk section. Near Suffolk is to be seen Bacons Castle, which was built ¢ in_ 1660, and made famous by the re- beilion, which bore its founder’s name, Old Fort Boykin and Shoal Bay, each | with a memorable place in history. In the vicinity of Norfolk is the Adam Thoroughgood house, said to be the oldest brick house in Virginia, having been built before 1634; also Cape Henry, where the first landing of the first per- manent English settlers was made in April, 1607, 13 years before the Pil- | grims landed in Massachusetts. { From Petersburg we turn to Pied- mont, Va., just as in the settling of Vir- ia, each succeeding wave moved | 1urther , and we now go to the Staunton River Valley, as there we find lntgt.he'rwggu% of homes umhfie‘d with | other irginians, equally famous as those of the Jnmor Potomac Valleys. The Staunton is one of the rivers which forms the Roanoke, asso- ciated with Roanoke Island and the lost colony. At the confluence of the e begins, s Prestwould, prol ably the most &efluw and unchanged of the nial Virginia homes. It is near the town of Clarks- ville, in Mecklenburg c‘mmi‘;m Pem'mhgf Virginia of Bi: located on the blufls of the Staun over] ton and the Dan { by the present owner after ther in Norfolk during a downpour of | rain, which continued steadily for sev- eral days. Being congenial spirits and well supplied with the finest of wines, the two gentlemen whiled away the time agreeably, drinking and playing cards, with the result that when the skies finally cleared, Sir Peyton had won from his opponent the deed to Blue- stone Castle, named Prestwould by Skipwith. This house is built of stone which was quarried on the place by slaves. Impressing and inviting is the mansion, furnished now as in Sir Pey- , Wwith probably the hand- most complete furnishing of original furniture to be found in any home in Virginia. To the left of the house is the family burying ground, and below the yard, looking toward the river is the burying ground for the slaves. Both of these graveyards are inclosed with stone and brick walls. ‘The garden at Prestwould originally contained five acres of ground inclosed by stone walls and was unquestionably the outstanding feature of the place. The box has grown to tree size, as well as the crepe myrtles, fig trees and other old shrubs. Lady Jean kept a garden journal, in which she made a plan of her garden, listing the flowers, giving both the botanical and common names, stating where she had acquired them, and how best to cultivate them. Today the Skipwith homstead is as charming as when George III ruled Virginia. * ok ok % 'URTHER up the Staunton River near South Boston is Berry Hill, on= of the Bruce homes. The grounds in the park around the house contained 20 acres, surrounded by a stone wall. Just inside the stone wall is a hedge of lilacs. The original box hedges edging the garden are 30 feet high, but the garden itself contained only 10 acres. Gravel walks 16 feet wide led through the garden and were separated from each other by grass plots 60 feet square. These were bordered with flowers to a width of 6 feet. The outstanding fea- ture of the place today is an Allanthus avenue one-half mile long leading to the house. The common name for this tree is “the tree of heaven.” In this garden are found all the old flowers that other gardens of its time contained. Crossing to the east side of the ‘suunwn River at Brookneal, the first place of interest is Red Hill, the home and burial place of Patrick Henry. He bought this plantation in 1794, and it still remains in the possession of his descendents. The house burned several years ago, but the beautiful box maze, and the garden itself seems to have suf- fered little. The writer of this article is the proud possesor of the sun dial from this garden, which was given her house burned. Many of the flowers for this garden were sent from Mount Vernon and other e-rl‘y gardens. Here one finds a long row of fig trees, beds of white violets, _yellow jessamine blooming among the box trees and many other flo;’e,rlnl Ahrul:h e graveyar near the garden and is surrounded by a hedge o‘x‘ box. In this are burled Patrick Henry and his last wife, Dorothea Dand: , as well as other members of the family. On the same side of the Staunton River, several miles below Red Hill, is another old Bruce place, known as Staunton Hill. The house contains 27 backgrot has for which were in English iooking the | W eanoks; ASeoRung | secti Skipwith