MARTINSVILLE / HENRY COUNTY
“Ridgeway to Raceway”
Sponsored by The Garden Study Club and
The Martinsville Garden Club
Wednesday, April 23, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Chairman:
Cece Johnson (Mrs. James H. Jr.)
1507 White Oak Court
Martinsville, VA 24112
(276) 632-2260
cprjohnson@comcast.net
Co-Chairman:
Nancy Spilman (Mrs. Robert H.)
310 Plantation Road
Martinsville, VA 24112
(276) 638-5206
nspilman@hotmail.com
FULL TICKET: $15; single-site for Speedway, $10; all other single-site, $5. Children 13 and older, full price; ages 6-12, half price; ages 5 and under, free of charge. Tickets may be purchased on tour day at any of the sites open for the tour. Children younger than 17 must be accompanied by an adult.
LUNCHEON: $12, available by advance reservation only, in the President’s Suite at the Martinsville Speedway from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Must have tour ticket for the Speedway in order to attend luncheon. Reservations may be made by contacting Janice Cain, (276) 638-6006, janicecainstationery@yahoo.com; or Lynne Beeler (276) 638-1030, ldcb@adelphia.net no later than Friday, April 18.
DIRECTIONS: From Rt. 220, 5.8 mi. south of Martinsville, near Ridgeway, turn at traffic light onto Rt. 687, (Soapstone Rd). Proceed for 2 mi., turn left onto Rt. 1060 and go 0.8 mi. to Magna Vista High School. From Magna Vista High School, return to Rt. 687 and turn left at stop sign. Proceed for 0.5 mi. and turn right onto Rt. 641. Go 1.1 mi. and turn right onto Rt. 1032, (Fisher Rd). Travel 0.4 mi. to the stop sign and turn right onto Rt. 1046, (Farmingdale Drive). Turn right at next intersection onto Beckford Way. Proceed on Beckford Way for 0.2 mi. to the Dorsey home. From the Dorsey home, return to Farmingdale Drive and turn left. Continue on Farmingdale Drive, (which becomes Owsley Drive at the intersection with Fisher Rd), for 0.3 mi. and turn right onto Derbyshire Lane. Proceed on Derbyshire Lane for 0.1 mi. to the Williams home. From the Williams home return to Owsley Drive and turn right. Proceed for 0.3 mi. to the Sigmon home. From the Sigmon home, go 0.4 mi. returning to the intersection with Owsley Drive and Fisher Road and turn right. Travel 0.4 mi. to the stop sign and turn right onto Rt. 641, (Joseph Martin Highway). Go 1.2 mi. and turn right continuing on Rt. 641, which now becomes Fisher Farm Rd. Proceed for 1.4 mi. to traffic light. Turn right onto Rt. 220 South. Go 0.1 mi. and turn left onto Rt. 749. Merge left onto Speedway Boulevard and proceed to the Martinsville Speedway.
Sites need not be visited in the order listed.
REFRESHMENTS: Light refreshments will be provided in the Gazebo at Magna Vista High School.
RIDGEWAY
This year, the Historic Garden Week tour for Martinsville and Henry
County explores the Ridgeway area south of Martinsville. This area of the
county, most of which was once farmland, is still today very rural in nature. The
three houses on the tour are located in Farmingdale, a relatively new neighborhood
developed on what was once the heart of the expansive Fisher Dairy Farm. In
the 1930s, Virgie Lee Fisher built a dam at the convergence of Marrowbone
Creek and the Smith River and generated electricity to milk 200 cows twice
daily, pasteurize and bottle the milk and light the homes and paved streets
on the farm.
The area is also the site of Magna Vista High School, named for
the plantation home built in 1835 by William Martin, grandson of Gen. Joseph
Martin, for whom Martinsville is named. The Speedway, though named for Martinsville,
is actually located in Ridgeway. We hope that you enjoy your tour, from “Ridgeway
to Raceway!”
THE GREENHOUSE AND HORTICULTURE PROGRAM AT MAGNA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL, 701
Magna Vista School Road, Ridgeway. This 5,000-square-foot glass
greenhouse was constructed in 2004 by the world-renowned Dutch firm VanWingerdon,
and its state-of-the-art design is comparable to that used at university
research greenhouses. It has computer-controlled environmental
systems including flood and drip irrigation, pad and fan evaporative cooling,
automatic shade cloth and blackout curtains for photoperiod control. The
adjacent classroom has spacious work areas, a four-door floral cooler and
walls filled with built-in storage cabinets. Deborah Barker has been
the instructor for 26 of the program’s 36-year history. She
has former students who are now landscapers, florists, floral designers
and commercial nursery owners. Perhaps more importantly, she has
instilled an appreciation of gardening and wise horticulture practices
in a generation of students. The program’s motto: “We
grow plants. We raise gardeners. We plant the future.”
The horticulture students’ greenhouse cropping schedule produces
2,500 poinsettias, 500 cyclamen and 40,000 spring bedding plants every year,
which are sold to the public in December and the spring. The floral design
program presents an annual wedding show featuring 150 fresh arrangements and
retails silk arrangements at an open house every December.
Throughout the day, students will give floral design demonstrations
in the classroom and demonstrations in the greenhouse covering a range of garden
topics. The initial phases of a horticulture study garden
will be unveiled, including a gazebo garden, where light refreshments will
be served. Open for the first time to Historic Garden Week visitors courtesy
of Henry County Public Schools.
199 BECKFORD WAY, located in the Farmingdale neighborhood. This
traditional modern-style brick ranch house is only a year old, but holds
a lifetime of memories. The owner has spent his career in academia,
and his home is filled with special memorabilia from those years, displayed
amid treasured family pieces. In the living room, a contemporary feel
is established by the paired red leather sofa and love seat. Brass
rubbings, done by the homeowner on a trip to England, share the walls with
Picasso and scenes of the University of Virginia campus, adding an eclectic
touch that typifies the décor. The family room features a collage
of renowned National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) athletes,
signed by the presidents and athletic directors of each of the conference
schools, given to Dr. Dorsey when he served as Chairman of the Council of
Presidents of NAIA schools. On the mantel rests a grandmother’s
century-old round mirror in an intricately carved, gilded frame.
During the 375th celebration of the founding of Jamestown, Dr. Dorsey
traveled with the official Virginia delegation to London and was given a print
of the Godspeed commemorating the event. A needlepoint work
depicting the famous ship, completed by a sister, is displayed in the master
bedroom. Scenes of the Wake Forest University campus, done in three-dimensional
decoupage, are also featured here. Several other pieces of original artwork,
including a watercolor still-life given him by a former teacher, are displayed
in the other rooms. Open for the first time to Historic Garden Week visitors. Dr.
Barry M. Dorsey, owner.
Martinsville Area—75 Derbyshire Lane
75 DERBYSHIRE LANE, located in
the Farmingdale neighborhood. Built
in 2001, this story-and-a-half custom red brick house, designed
in a traditional modern style, is distinctive for its bay and Palladian
windows and white keystone accents on the façade. A beveled-glass
entry door with full sidelights opens to a dramatic two-story, marble-floored
foyer accented with beautiful moldings, columns, staircase and balustrade
above. In the dining room is an original Scott Jacobs still-life
of a rare Petrus wine. The dining room table is set with custom-monogrammed
Versace china with gold embellishment. The tastefully appointed rooms
on the first and second levels feature faux-finished walls, hardwood and
marble floors, family antiques, and a pair of chairs and a loveseat from
Beaver Creek Plantation.
The lower level of the residence encompasses a large informal entertainment
area highlighting the owners’ extensive collections of sports memorabilia.
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) items number over a
hundred, including numerous signed helmets and uniforms of all the sport’s
greats. There are also autographed pieces from golf, football, basketball
and boxing greats, including Arnold Palmer, Joe Montana, Michael Jordan and
Muhammad Ali. An original piece by local artist Rodney Scott (Rupe) Dalton
depicts the owners’ son Josh when he won the state high school golf championship. Outside
on the patio, a garden with a three-tiered fountain sets the stage for an extensive
lawn, bound by earth berms planted with crape myrtle, weeping willow, pampas
grass, liriope, yellow mop and azalea. Open for the first time to Historic
Garden Week visitors. Mr. and Mrs. Christopher L. Williams, owners.
480 OWSLEY DRIVE, located in the Farmingdale neighborhood. This
distinctive multi-gabled, hip-roofed brick residence was built in 2002. Sited
at the top of a gentle knoll in the midst of seven and a half acres, the
house affords a panoramic view of the former Fisher Dairy Farm land that
has become Farmingdale. A columned porch covers the entry, flanked
by double windows, all with Palladian fanlights above. This creates a bright,
welcoming foyer that flows through three columned arches into the formal
living and dining rooms, all with impressive 13-foot ceilings. Galleries
on both sides of the foyer lead to an office and master suite on the left
and guest suites on the right, where the owner’s diverse collections
of more than 100 music boxes are displayed in niches and curios. The
spacious, welcoming kitchen/family room features cherry cabinets and a large,
multi-angled island. An elaborate mantel and marble fireplace surround
were designed and constructed by the homeowner. The stained-glass window
in a nearby powder room depicts a colorful parrot created by local artist
Amanda Honorè.
From the adjacent sunroom, French doors open to both the sunny deck
and a covered porch with matching rocking chairs. The beautifully landscaped
lawn features beds of azalea, crape myrtle, hosta, roses, numerous other perennials
and bulbs. The homeowners, in addition to having personally finished the interior
of their home, are accomplished gardeners as well and have established and
maintain the grounds. Open for the first time to Historic Garden Week
visitors. Mr. and Mrs. O. Lee Sigmon, owners.
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY, 340 Speedway Road off
Bus. 220. Opened as a dirt track in 1947 by the late H. Clay Earles,
this venue for one of America’s most exciting sports is historic indeed,
though not in the usual sense of Historic Garden Week. The city of Martinsville
is known today not for its economic drivers of the past, textiles and furniture,
but for the NASCAR drivers who delight the more than 68,000 fans who attend
the nationally televised races each year. Legends of the sport, such
as Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner and Lee Petty, raced throughout the fifties
when the half-mile track was first paved and races were first broadcast on
the radio. In the seventies, Hollywood came to the track, filming live
action of the Old Dominion 500 for a movie based on the life of legend Junior
Johnson. Today the speedway is a modern facility with all the amenities
one would expect at a major sports venue. Ladies attending The Garden
Club of Virginia annual meeting in 2001 dined in President Clay Campbell’s
suite.
Members of the Patrick Henry Community College Motorsports Association
will conduct guided tours of the speedway throughout the day. President
Campbell will have his elaborately equipped motor home available for visitors
to tour. Those with advance lunch reservations will dine in his suite high
above the speedway. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources placed
a historic marker at the site in the fall of 2007 to recognize the historical
significance of the track and commemorate its 60th anniversary. Open
for the first time to Historic Garden Week visitors. International Speedway
Corporation, owners.
ALSO OF INTEREST:
Piedmont Arts Association, 215 Starling Ave. current exhibits: Portraits
by Nicodemus Hufford; Prints by Michael McCurdy, on loan from the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Virginia Museum of Natural History, 21 Starling Ave.
current exhibits: Alien Earths, Uncovering Virginia, and How
Nature Works: Rocks and How Nature Works: Life.
Southern Virginia Artisan Center, 54 W. Church St. featuring
handcrafted items made by local and regional artisans.