ORANGE COUNTY
“Homes and Gardens Across the Ages
in Montpelier Hunt Country”
Sponsored by Dolley Madison Garden Club
Saturday, April 19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Chairman:
Alice Smith (Mrs. O. Kendall)
14257 Spicer’s Mill Road
P. O. Box 294
Orange, VA 22960
Telephone: (540) 672-1053
E-mail: aksmith43@verizon.net
Assistant Chairman:
Pamela Hudson (Mrs. Matthew)
6315 Mistwood Lane
Rapidan, VA 22733
Telephone: (540) 672-0200
E-mail: wphud@hughes.net
ADVANCE Ticket Sales: $20, may be purchased at the following locations: A Classic Touch, 109 E. Main St., Orange (540) 672-5554; The Arts Center of Orange, 1293 E. Main St., Orange (540) 672-7311; Elmwood at Sparks, 124 West Main St., Orange (540) 672-0060; Gentle Gardener, 207 S. Main St., Gordonsville (540) 832-7031; Greenscapes Nursery, 531 Cedar Hill Rd., Madison (540) 948-6478; Museum of Culpeper History, 803 S. Main St., Culpeper (540) 829-1749; Pepperberries, 102 N. Main St., Culpeper, (540) 829-2290.
DAY-OF-TOUR TICKET SALES: $25; single-site admission $10. Children 6-12 half price; children 5 and under, free of charge. Tickets are available at each location on the tour and at the Montpelier Visitor Center, 4 mi. south of the town of Orange on Rt. 20 and left into the Montpelier entrance.
LUNCH: Box lunches will be available at the Montpelier Visitor Center from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. for $12. A choice of 1) shaved turkey and Swiss on croissant with mustard and mayonnaise or 2) chilled toasted orzo salad with Kalamata olives, tomatoes, red onions, capers, extra virgin olive oil. Both choices are served with harvest cheddar sun ships, Fuji apple, locally baked chocolate chip cookie and a bottle of water. Elmwood at Sparks will accept lunch orders by telephone (540) 672-0060, email or personal visitors to Elmwood at Sparks: 124 West Main St., Orange, VA 22960. info@elmwoodcatering.com Orders should be placed before Monday, April 14. www.elmwoodcatering.com
GENERAL INFORMATION: Due to uneven surfaces at the rural properties, locations are not handicapped-accessible. Only 24- or 28-seat buses will be allowed. Cars and vans are welcome. Flat-soled shoes are recommended for walking. Restroom facilities are available at Montpelier Visitor Center. Lemonade will be served at Oakley all day.
DIRECTIONS: Tour properties are located near Montpelier,
home of President James Madison, off Rt. 20 and south of Orange. From
the intersection of Rtes. 20 and 15 at the Orange Courthouse, drive 2.2 mi.
south on Rt. 20 to Oakley on the right. Leaving Oakley turn
right on Rt. 20 and proceed 0.2 mi. Turn left on Dolley Madison Rd. (Rt.
675). Drive 0.9 mi. to the Bassett House, parking on the left.
Leaving the Bassett House parking area, turn left, travel 0.3 mi.
and turn right on Back Rd. continuing 0.4 mi. Turn left on S. Montpelier
Rd. Drive 0.5 mi. to crossroads. Turn right and follow signs to the
Montpelier Visitor Center and the Annie duPont Formal Garden. (Preordered
boxed lunches will be available at the Visitor Center. A number of
extra lunches will be available.)
From the Visitor Center follow signs for EXIT passing the Mansion on
the right and continuing on the main exit driveway to Rt. 20. Turn left
on Rt. 20 South continuing 1.4 mi. to Gaston Hall on the left. Leaving Gaston
Hall turn left on Rt. 20 and drive 1 mi. to Somerset Center Store. Turn
left on Blue Ridge Turnpike (Rt. 231 South) and drive 1.5 mi. Turn left
on Jacksontown Rd. (Rt. 655) and drive 0.9 mi. Windrock is on the
right. Leaving Windrock turn left on Jacksontown Rd. (Rt. 655). Drive
0.9 mi. Turn right on Blue Ridge Turnpike (Rt. 231 North) and drive 1.5
mi. to Somerset Center Store. Proceed 4.1 mi. along Rt. 20 North (Constitution
Hwy.) to Oakley on the left.
Properties need not be visited in the order listed.
Oakley—Orange County
OAKLEY. With a panoramic view of the Blue Ridge
Mountains, Oakley, an impressive Greek Revival home, was constructed in 1843
by Dr. Robert Thomas, a prominent Orange County physician. In 1872, his daughter,
Sarah Thomas Browning, and her husband G. Judson Browning, Captain in the
6th Virginia Cavalry, organizer of the “Orange Rangers,” and
representative to the Virginia House of Delegates, enlarged the house. In
2001, the present owners began extensive restorations to Oakley. During
the four-year process, the structure was reduced to its basic elements and
rebuilt while retaining its historical integrity. To complete the present
four-square house, a new wing was added. Key features include an original
staircase with walnut banister rail and pine treads, original floors, and
rooms adorned with English and American antiques and art. Look for
the 1680 Japanned chest with Charles II Gesso stand as well as numerous 18th
century period family pieces. The veranda allows for views of rolling
hills and informal gardens which surround the house, planted with specimens
brought from the owners’ previous gardens. The front lawn
is graced with American elm and Catawba trees dating to its early history.
Located on the east portion of the 200-acre farm is the historic site
of the “Fat Nancy” wreck of July 12, 1888. A railroad trestle,
named after a laundress whose home stood nearby, collapsed under a train carrying
Confederate veterans returning from their 25th commemoration of the Battle
of Gettysburg. General James Longstreet, a passenger, was unscathed; however,
nine were killed and dozens injured in what remains the worst train disaster
in Virginia. Open for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. J. Ridgely Porter
III, owners.
BASSETT HOUSE. Tucked away in a secluded corner
of James Madison’s Montpelier is a small cottage, called Bassett House. It
was built in the 1930s for Carroll K. Bassett, Marion duPont Scott’s
accomplished steeplechase jockey and trainer, who was also a talented sculptor
and botanist. The home was a “kit” house, produced by
E.F. Hodgson Co. of Boston, assembled on site, creating a cozy, white, seven-room
clapboard home with a porch and cedar-shingle roof. Later additions
and detailing were designed by the Charlottesville architectural firm Johnson
Craven Gibson. In the 1950s an informal cottage garden designed by
noted landscape architect Charles F. Gillette was installed adjoining the
house.
Also on the grounds is a one-half acre Oriental Garden, designed by
Bassett and Marion Scott with help from Gillette. The landscape is a
remarkable early American adaptation of a Japanese garden. It features
a series of small pools linked by a stream, winding stone paths, authentic
Oriental stone sculpture, and a remarkable variety of mature Oriental and American
plants. Enclosed by several different styles of wooden fence, the garden offers
a peaceful and serene experience. The Oriental Garden is registered with the
Archives of American Gardens at the Smithsonian. The house, open for
the first time during Historic Garden Week, is currently the residence of the
President of Montpelier Foundation, Mr. Michael C. Quinn, and his wife, Carolyn. Copies
of Gillette’s original designs will be on exhibit.
ANNIE duPONT GARDEN. The Annie duPont Formal
Garden at Montpelier was a restoration project of The Garden Club of Virginia
in 1990 and is showcased this year to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Historic
Garden Week. The history of the Formal Garden begins with James Madison who
hired a French gardener, Mr. Bizet, to help him design his garden. Bizet’s
handiwork resulted in horseshoe-shaped terraces carved in a hillside behind
Madison’s home, creating a four-acre garden that was filled with fruits,
vegetables, roses and other 19th century flowers. After Montpelier’s
sale in 1844, the gardens suffered from neglect. When William duPont purchased
Montpelier in 1901, his wife Annie launched a project to transform two acres
of the original landscape into a formal garden. The garden was
enclosed and protected by high brick walls; the profiles of the terraces were
restored; the boxwoods carefully pruned; flower beds, shrubs and trees were
planted; and magnificent urns, columns, marble statuary and ornamental iron
gates were imported from Europe. Further changes were made to the garden
by William and Annie duPont’s daughter, Marion duPont Scott, who commissioned
landscape architect Charles F. Gillette to design decorative brick walks and
perennial herb beds on the upper terrace.
In 1984, the heirs of Marion duPont Scott transferred Montpelier to
the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and an effort began to catalogue
the plantings in the formal garden. Restoration by The Garden Club of
Virginia began in 1990, returning the garden to the glory created by the duPonts
in the early 20th century, with the addition of plantings typical of other
formal gardens of the period. In late April, plantings in the Annie duPont
Formal Garden that deserve special note will include flowering quince, ample
spring bulbs and tree peonies, along with the design features of an exceptional
classical garden.
Gaston Hall. Located amid the rolling terrain and
sweeping pastures of the Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District, Gaston
Hall was completed in 1909 by William and Annie duPont, owners of neighboring
Montpelier, for Annie’s son, George Zinn, Jr. Local builder George
Ficklin (1865-1917), who had supervised the duPonts’ enlargement of
Montpelier, designed and built the new brick manor house. Sited
at the end of a long drive, the house consists of a two-and-a-half story
central block fronted by a classical portico and flanked by symmetrical one-story
wings. The design, which echoes Thomas Jefferson’s plan for Montpelier
and incorporates numerous architectural “quotations” from Madison’s
home, is exemplary of the early 20th century Colonial Revival style. The
center hall and reception rooms feature characteristic high ceilings and
architectural moldings, complemented by the owners’ impressive collection
of Old Master paintings and 18th century furnishings. The wings now house
the kitchen and library, respectively.
Of Gaston Hall’s original, extensive formal gardens, only old
boxwood and peonies remained, along with a charming garden temple. Building
upon these elements, and relocating the original carriage house, the owners
and landscape architect Rachel Lilly have created an ordered yet relaxed plan
on three terraces, incorporating shrub borders, pool garden, perennial parterre
and kitchen garden. In 1978 the property was renamed Belvedere, but the name
Gaston Hall has been revived to honor the property’s historic legacy.
The house is open for the first time during Historic Garden Week. Mr.
and Mrs. Steven D. Brooks, owners.
WINDROCK. In contrast to the 19th century
estates in the Montpelier neighborhood is Windrock, a stunning stone and
stucco contemporary residence located on land which was previously owned
by Mrs. Harvey’s great-uncle. The house, designed by architect
Deb Ketz, was completed in 2001. The home is well situated on the property
with a horse barn, pool and tennis court. It is surrounded by exquisitely
maintained informal flower beds, each one featuring plants and colors carefully
selected by Mrs. Harvey. More than 2,000 bulbs have been planted for
this year’s Garden Week. In front of the house is a manmade hill
on which rocks have been strategically placed in order to anchor the house
to the land. The overall landscaping was designed by landscape architect
John James.
This large residence, with its main living space on one level, accommodates
the personal interest of both owners in entertaining and comfortable living
for now and years to come. Each room is distinctive with carefully placed
artwork by local and nationally prominent artists, combinations of modern and
antique furnishings, and varying styles of crown molding enhanced by a computer-driven
lighting system. The elliptical two-story library is the main architectural
feature with cherry paneling and bookcases surrounding a magnificent stone
fireplace. A floating staircase leads to the second floor offering spectacular
views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The state-of-the-art kitchen is the
focal point of the main living area. Accordion doors along the south
side of the house open to bring in the outside. Mr. and Mrs. Edward
H. Harvey, owners.
OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST:
JAMES MADISON’S MONTPELIER. 4 mi. south of Orange on Rt. 20. Montpelier was the home of the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, and his wife, Dolley. The main house is currently undergoing extensive renovation, being meticulously returned to the 1820 house that James and Dolley Madison loved. Today, visitors have a rare opportunity to observe an exceptional restoration as they look behind the scenes. Historic Garden Week proceeds have enabled The Garden Club of Virginia to restore Montpelier’s two-acre formal terraced garden. Admission fee.
THE EXCHANGE HOTEL CIVIL WAR MUSEUM. From the traffic circle in Gordonsville, go 0.6 mi. east on Rt. 33. Follow signs to the museum. In 1840 this site was occupied by a tavern that served the depot and rail terminus of the Louisa Railroad. This rustic tavern burned in 1859 and was replaced in 1860 by the more elegant hotel on the site today. During the Civil War, the hotel was taken over by the Confederate Army and became the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital, one of the major medical facilities of the Confederacy. More than 70,000 wounded Northern and Southern soldiers were treated here, and many died here. Today, visitors first notice the distinctive colors of the exterior as Confederate gray and butternut, colors worn by Southern soldiers when uniforms were available. Museum exhibits feature medical instruments of the time, period furniture, and uniforms and other items of the common soldier. Books on Civil War persons and events are available in the gift shop. Admission fee.