ALEXANDRIA
Sponsored by The Hunting Creek Garden Club and
The Garden Club of Alexandria
Saturday, April 17, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Chairmen:
Lucy S. Rhame
508 South Fairfax Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Telephone: (703) 836-3532
E-mail: lrhame@aol.com
Christine S. Roberts (Mrs. Lyle)
509 ½ South Fairfax Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Telephone: (703) 299-6540
E-mail: croberts799@mac.com
BUS AND GROUP TOUR INFORMATION:
Gugi Hooff (Mrs. Charles R., III.)
Belmont Bay Farm, P.O. Box 436
Lorton, VA 22199-0436
Telephone: (703) 402-2384
E-mail: gundrun_hooff@hotmail.com
INFORMATION CENTERS:
Alexandria Visitors Center
221 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Telephone: (703) 838-4200
(Information about historic properties, restaurants, hotels. Parking meter passes
for out-of-town visitors. Restroom facilities available)
The Lyceum
Alexandria’s History Museum
201 South Washington Street,
Alexandria, VA 22314
Telephone: (703) 838-4994
(A Virginia Historical Landmark- Museum Gift Shop. State travel information and
restroom facilities available.)
TICKETS: $40, full ticket on tour day includes five private houses and
gardens, refreshments at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House and all-day admission
to nearby historic properties. Group tours for 10 or more people and tickets
purchased in advance are $35. Single-site ticket, $20. Full tickets for children
under 12 are $20, single-house, $10. Children younger than 17 must be accompanied
by an adult. Babes in arms are admitted free of charge. Tickets may be
purchased on tour day at any of the houses and at the Alexandria Visitor’s
Center.
ADVANCE TICKETS: Advance tickets, $35, are available at The
Alexandria Visitor’s Center, 221 King St., The
Athenaeum, 201 Prince St., Market Square Shop, 202
King St., and The Enchanted Florist, 139 South Fairfax St. For
Internet tickets, please access www.VAGardenweek.org.
HOUSES MAY BE VISITED IN ANY ORDER. PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT PERMITTED IN PRIVATE
HOUSES AND GARDENS.
REFRESHMENTS: Light refreshments will be available at the Old
Presbyterian Meeting House, 323 South Fairfax St., from 11a.m. until
3 p.m. on the day of the tour.
DIRECTIONS: Alexandria is just off the Capital Beltway (I-95 and
I-495), which encircles the District of Columbia. Take Exit 1B off the Beltway
and follow the signs to The Visitor’s Center. From Baltimore, Philadelphia
and New York, take I-95S. From Annapolis and
the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding beaches, take 50W. From West
Virginia, take I-66E to I-495. Interstate 270 connects the Beltway to
Frederick, Maryland, and beyond. The nearest metro station is King St. (Blue
and Yellow Lines).
All houses open for this tour are in zip code 22314.
PARKING: Parking meter passes for out-of-town visitors are available
at The Ramsey House. Street parking in residential areas is not recommended.
Paid parking lots and garages in Old Town include the following:
Cameron Street at North St. Asaph Street
Cameron Street at North Pitt Street
South Pitt Street, between Prince and King Street
North Fairfax Street at King Street
North Lee Street at King Street
South Union Street between Prince and Duke Street
201 DUKE STREET, The Alexander McConnel House. This
Federal clapboard house was built by Alexander McConnell in 1785-95, along with
two adjacent houses, 223 & 225 South Lee Street. At that time, the three
houses shared a common kitchen and stable. Richard Arell, an earlier owner
of the lot in the 18th century, also owned a tavern on the location of the fountain
at Market Square, visited by George Washington. Mr. Arell gifted the land
to his son David, a Revolutionary War soldier and early mayor of Alexandria,
who then sold it to Alexander McConnell. This house has a charming side
garden with a vine-covered pergola, a brick patio and plantings of “Limelight” hydrangea
and “Lambs Ear” on the exterior of the fence. The house is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places. John H. Patterson, owner.
220 SOUTH FAIRFAX STREET. William Hall constructed this
Italianate-style house in 1885. The site had previously been the location of
a Quaker meeting house and graveyard, a Presbyterian church, and the temporary
home of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church while its current structure was being
built. The house is typical of the generously proportioned Italianate
style with three stories, tall two-over-two windows, high ceilings, and ornate
woodwork trim at the cornice, doorway and windows. Unaltered from its original
floor plan, the residence includes a sunroom from which the owners enjoy their
backyard garden year-round.
The attractive interior is decorated with family heirlooms and art collected
from the owners’ travels throughout Southeast Asia. The living room
and hall have recently been refurbished with period heart-pine floors and a decorative
faux-finish on the walls. Beds in the front abound with Victorian-era plants. Susan
and Charlie Davis, owners.
501 DUKE STREET, The Customs House. This classic
Federal house was home to George Washington’s nephew, George Augustine
Washington (1758-93), and Martha Washington’s favorite niece, Fanny Bassett
(1767-96). The couple were married in a candlelit ceremony at Mount Vernon
in 1785 and shortly thereafter purchased the residence. George Augustine
Washington died here in 1793, and Fanny and their three small children remained
in the house until 1795. That year, Fanny married Tobias Lear, George Washington’s
private secretary. In September 1795, George Washington dined here with
the young couple in the weeks after their wedding. By 1799, the building
was being used as the Customs House by Charles Simms (1755-1819). Simms was a
pallbearer at Washington’s funeral and attorney for the executors of Washington’s
will. Simms was living here, serving as Mayor of Alexandria, when he surrendered
Alexandria to the British in the War of 1812, an act for which he was later censured.
The house is surrounded on three sides by a walled garden that includes
a kitchen garden of herbs and vegetables and many lovely perennials. To the right
of the front door is a second, wider door called a “coffin door,” customarily
used to bring the deceased into the front parlor where a wake would be held. The
house is filled with many period antiques and a large collection of American
advertising art. Lauren Belvin, owner.
806 PRINCE STREET, The Parson Johnston House–The
Robert E. Lee Camp Hall. Built in 1852 by the Rev. James T. Johnston, rector
of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, this is a classic Greek Revival house with
Italianate influences. The home remained in the family, except for a brief period
during the Civil War, until 1903 when it was purchased by the 17th Virginia Infantry
Regiment of Alexandria, which had reported to Robert E. Lee. The building
has been used for many purposes, including a girls’ school and the Alexandria
Library, and currently it is the home of the Mary Custis Lee Chapter of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy.
This handsome three-story structure features a central hallway with two
rooms on either side. There are many fine portraits of local Civil War soldiers
in the two front parlors, and the furniture is either original or of the period. Other
original features include wrought-iron work on the front exterior, moldings,
millwork, fireplaces and the Archer and Warner Gasoliers in the first-floor parlors.
The upstairs houses a Civil War museum, including the camp chair of Robert E.
Lee, donated by George Washington Custis Lee. A small charming walled garden
contains boxwoods at the entrance, many period bulbs and a beautiful Japanese
maple. United Daughters of the Confederacy, owner.
811 PRINCE STREET, The
Bayne-Fowle House. Constructed in 1854, this Italianate-style dwelling was
used as a hospital during the Civil War. At that time, it was the subject
of a U.S. Supreme Court case addressing Civil War policies and later housed doctors’ offices
for most of the past century. The design is architecturally significant as an
unaltered example of a wealthy merchant’s residence of the mid-19th century. Three
stories with a raised English basement, the house has a full attic and two-over-two
elongated windows. The stone façade is unusual for this period of
time in Alexandria, and the house is listed as a Virginia Historic Landmark and
on the National Register of Historic Places.
Inside, the richly appointed suite of reception rooms on the first floor
comprise one of the finest mid-Victorian interiors in the state, complete with
elaborate plasterwork and an unusual “pendant arcade,” dividing
the two parlors from the ceiling line. Pier mirrors, fireplaces, staircases,
shutters, floors, doors and associated moldings and gasoliers are all original
to the house, and the ceiling moldings and gasoliers were likely installed just
after the Civil War. The house was recently and significantly renovated. Not
to be missed is the collection of Australian Aboriginal art.
A renovated side garden and smaller rear garden boast Japanese maples
and a row of European hornbeam trees. The garden is formal in nature with evergreen
plantings lining the lawn and anchoring the patio. Richard Klingler and Jane
Slatter, owners.
OTHER PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST
(Admission included in Alexandria Tour full ticket. Tour tickets are not sold
at these locations.)
THE LEE-FENDALL HOUSE MUSEUM AND GARDEN,
614 Oronoco Street at North Washington Street. Built in 1785 by Philip Fendall
on land purchased from Revolutionary War hero “Light Horse Harry” Lee,
this gracious historic house museum presents an intimate study of 19th century
family life. Home to several generations of the famed Lees of Virginia (1785-1903)
and labor leader John L. Lewis (1937-69), the house is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. Guided tours are offered 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday
and 1-3 p.m. Sunday.
CARLYLE HOUSE HISTORIC PARK, 121 North Fairfax Street.
When Scottish merchant John Carlyle completed his riverfront house in 1753, this
was the grandest mansion in the new town of Alexandria. The stone architecture,
furniture and decorative finishes reflect Carlyle’s status and wealth.
The Garden Club of Virginia restored the front landscape to the mid-18th century
period. A lovely garden with a boxwood parterre graces the rear of the house.
Guided tours are offered 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Northern Virginia
Regional Park Authority, owner.
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOUNT VERNON ESTATE AND GARDENS,
8 mi. south of Alexandria on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Situated
on the Potomac River, Mount Vernon was the home of George and Martha Washington.
From the end of the American Revolution in 1783 to his election to the presidency
in 1789, Washington replaced out- buildings, reshaped gardens, created new lawns,
planted trees and even realigned roads and lanes. The George Washington Pioneer
Farmer Site features a distinctive replica of Washington’s 16-sided barn
and displays of his farming principles. With funding from Historic Garden Week,
the Garden Club of Virginia has helped to restore Mount Vernon’s bowling
green, one of the major landscape features on this vast plantation. Guided garden
and landscape tours offered daily, April through October. Mount Vernon
is open 365 days a year. The Mount Vernon Ladies Association, owners. www.mountvernon.org
AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY AT RIVER FARM, 7931 East
Boulevard Drive, Alexandria.
River Farm, the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society, overlooks
the Potomac River and was one of George Washington’s original properties. The
property is comprised of 25 acres of gardens and grounds, which include perennial
borders, annual beds, children’s gardens, a meadow, a woodland, and picnic
areas. The estate house was remodeled in the early 20th century and the property
is described as a “gentleman’s estate.” Large porches offer
panoramic view of the Potomac River and gardens. Hours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
WOODLAWN, 9000 Richmond Highway, 3 mi. west of Mount Vernon at
the intersection of Rte 235 and U.S. Rte 1. This Federal mansion was built on
2,000 acres that George Washington carved from Mount Vernon when his wife’s
granddaughter Nelly Custis married his nephew Lawrence Lewis. Designed by Dr
William Thornton, the first architect of the United States Capitol, this lovely
house contains fine Federal period furnishings, many brought from Mount Vernon.
The garden was restored by the Garden Club of Virginia in 1958-60. Open 10 a.m.-4
p.m. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, owner.
GUNSTON HALL PLANTATION, 15 mi. south of Alexandria
off U.S. Rte 1 on Rte 242. This 550-acre National Historic Landmark was the home
of George Mason (1725-92), author of The Virginia Declaration of Rights. The
estate consists of a Georgian mansion, ca. 1755, and reconstructed kitchen, dairy,
laundry and schoolhouse. The brick mansion exhibits elaborately carved woodwork
enhanced by furnishings of the colonial period. The Potomac River is viewed through
the original Deer Park. While not a current restoration project of the Garden
Club of Virginia, the Club assisted Gunston Hall with landscaping work in 1949-53.
Open 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.