WILLIAMSBURG
Sponsored by the Williamsburg Garden Club
Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Chairman:
Terry Emory Buntrock
8 Bayberry Lane
Williamsburg, VA 23185
Telephone (757) 259-1206
E-mail: terrybuntrock@tni.net
Co-Chairman:
Merry Abbitt Outlaw
109 Crown Point Road
Williamsburg, VA 23185
Telephone (757) 253-2419
E-mail xkv8rs@aol.com
Advance Tickets, Information and Luncheon Reservations:
Cathy Adams
217 Southpoint Drive
Williamsburg, VA 23185
Telephone (757) 220-2486
E-mail cbtbka@cox.net
ADVANCE TICKET SALES: Through April 17: Full advance ticket $25, cash
or check only, at the following Williamsburg locations: G. Bates
Studio, Merchants Square; Seasons of Williamsburg,
Jamestown Road; Wild Birds Unlimited, Monticello Marketplace;
or by contacting one of the members above.
Advance tickets may be purchased with a credit card by accessing www.VAgardenweek.org.
TICKET SALES: Full ticket $30, includes admittance into each home
and garden on tour, transportation throughout the Historic Area via Colonial
Williamsburg buses and the Escorted Walking Garden Tour. Single-site admission
$10. Children 13 and older, full price; ages 6-12 admitted for half-price if
accompanied by an adult. Children 5 and under, free of charge. Tickets may be
purchased at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center Monday, April 19, 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., and Tuesday, April 20, 9 a.m. to noon. On the day of the tour, full
and single admission tickets may be purchased throughout the tour site.
LUNCHEON: By reservation only. A box lunch
will be available at the Bruton Parish Church Parish House from 11:30 a.m. until
2 p.m. for $15. The Parish House is located next to Barnes & Noble
Bookstore on Duke of Gloucester. Reserve your lunch by April 12 by contacting
Cathy Adams at the telephone number or e-mail address listed above.
DIRECTIONS AND PARKING
To visit the homes in Richmond Hill and The Coves from I-64 East
or West. Take Exit 242-A onto VA-199 toward Jamestown/Williamsburg. Go
3.3 mi. Turn right at the stop light onto South Henry St. The Coves is
1.2 mi. ahead on the left, followed closely by Richmond Hill and Newport House. Parking
is available on the west side of Henry Street. Parking will not be allowed
in The Coves or in Richmond Hill.
To visit Ewing House Complex and Nelson-Galt House from I-64 East or
West. Follow directions to Richmond Hill and The Coves from I-64. Continue
0.5 mi. past Richmond Hill to Francis St. Turn right at stoplight onto Francis
go 0.5 mi. The Ewing Complex is on the right and tavern parking is just
beyond that. The Nelson-Galt House is across the street from tavern parking.
To visit Mattey’s Garden from I-64 East or West. Follow
directions to Richmond Hill and The Coves from I-64. From Newport House,
go 0.5 mi. Parking is available in the parking deck at left for $1/hour. Take
a right onto Scotland and Mattey’s garden is on the left. Limited
parking is available at Mattey’s Garden.
To visit the homes in Richmond Hill and The Coves from the Visitor
Center. Take the Colonial Parkway south toward Jamestown. Exit
at Newport Avenue. Turn left at stop sign onto Newport Ave. Turn
left at the stop sign onto South Henry. Go 0.2 mi. and arrive at Newport
House on the right. Richmond Hill and The Coves are 0.2 mi. farther down South
Henry. Parking is available on the west side of Henry Street. Parking
will not be allowed in The Coves or in Richmond Hill.
To visit Ewing House Complex and Nelson-Galt House from the Visitor
Center. Take Colonial Parkway south toward Jamestown. Exit
at Newport Ave. Turn right at stop sign onto Newport Avenue. Go 2
blocks to dead end and turn left onto England St. Turn right at stop sign onto
Francis. Go 0.3 mi. Pass Ewing House Complex on the right and tavern
parking is just beyond that. The Nelson-Galt House is across the street
from tavern parking.
FACILITIES: Public restrooms, phones and drink machines
are located throughout the Historic Area as well as the Colonial Williamsburg
Visitor Center. Temporary restrooms will be located at The Coves information
center.
NOTE: As a courtesy to homeowners, and for your own safety and comfort,
please wear flat walking shoes. No interior photography, cell phones or smoking,
please.
Properties may be visited in any order.
EWING HOUSE COMPLEX, 338 East Francis Street. The Ewing
House appears to have been built in the third quarter of the 18th century, and
a building of its size is shown on the 1782 “Frenchman’s Map.” Peter
Moyer, a baker, appears to be the first known owner of the property. His name
appears in 1762 on the baptismal record of his son George and again in 1763 when
his daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was baptized in Bruton Parish. Ebenezer Ewing,
a Scottish merchant, purchased the property in the mid-1790s and it remained
in the Ewing family until 1841. The house, with a gambrel roof and shed
dormers, features a central passage with two rooms on the west and one on the
east. The presence of only one chimney serving the two smaller first and second-floor
rooms, along with evidence that the unheated east room was initially unfinished,
indicates that the building might have served as a shop. When the structure was
restored by Colonial Williamsburg in 1940, a 20th century porch was removed from
the north façade while the original framing was largely retained. On the
interior, some of the woodwork—including the stairs, several doors and
the flooring—survives from the 18th century. Open for Garden Week by the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Williamsburg—Nelson-Galt House
NELSON-GALT HOUSE, 425 East Francis Street. Built soon
after 1695, the Nelson-Galt House is believed to be Williamsburg’s oldest
residence still standing in use. Around 1717, William Robertson enlarged
his modest home, providing it with all the amenities found in the town’s
finest dwellings. Later in the century, the house was again renovated when owned
by the Thomas Nelson family. General Nelson signed the Declaration of Independence,
commanded Virginia’s forces during the Yorktown campaign and succeeded
Thomas Jefferson as the state’s governor. At that time the house acquired
its present degree of finish, one equivalent to the Brush-Everhard House and
others of like caliber. In 1823, it was sold to Dr. Alexander Galt, a physician
at the Public Hospital whose family retained ownership of the home for many generations. Despite
later additions, the original part of the house has been altered little since
the late-18th century and needed only repairs rather than extensive restoration
when incorporated into Colonial Williamsburg. Open for Garden Week by Cheryl
and Scott Orr.
MATTEY’S GARDEN, Matthew Whaley Elementary School
on Scotland Street. A project of the Williamsburg Garden Club, Mattey’s
Garden was a gift to the City of Williamsburg for its 300th celebration and was
dedicated in 1999. Each grade level is responsible for certain areas of the garden.
The garden was accorded the Common Wealth Award from the Garden Club of Virginia,
as well as awards from the City of Williamsburg, Williamsburg Land Conservancy
and the Historic Triangle Jamestown 2007 Beautification Contest. The garden is
listed on the National Garden Association’s Children’s Garden Registry
and has hosted numerous groups from around the state. Mattey’s Garden will
be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
ESCORTED WALKING TOUR. An escorted walking
tour of gardens near Palace Green will originate at Mattey’s Garden, a
large children’s garden next to the Matthew Whaley School created as a
learning science lab for the students. The Historic Area gardens featured
on this tour include ornamental pleasure gardens with period annuals, perennials
and shrubs. Tour visitors will glean information on garden design, landscape
details, and the oldest boxwood in the Historic Area. The gardens on tour
are at the following sites: St. George Tucker, Thomas Everard and John Custis.
Tours begin at 10 a.m. and depart approximately every 15 minutes, each lasting
45 minutes. The final tour departs at 3 p.m.
NEWPORT HOUSE GARDEN AND BALLROOM, 710
South Henry Street. Built to museum standards in 1988 from a 1756 design by Peter
Harrison, architect of the 1749 Williamsburg Capitol, Newport House is furnished
in period English and American antiques and reproductions. The commanding
central stairway leads to a 40-foot ballroom, where Colonial and Scottish dancing
groups meet. In addition to a collection of musical instruments, the ballroom
serves as gallery space for numerous dance engravings.
The garden, designed and tended by the homeowners, is a certified Wildlife
Habitat and includes herbaceous borders, flowering hedgerows and unusual tree
specimens, as well as a box turtle family that comes to the owners when called. The
Elizabethan-style herb garden contains a diverse collection of herbs used in
the Colonial period. The garden includes a gazebo, a Square-Foot-method vegetable
garden, a hard-working beehive and a greenhouse, whose salt-box shape takes maximum
advantage of sunlight and serves as winter protection for citrus trees and as
propagation space for spring seedlings. Horticulturists and beekeepers will offer
discussion throughout the day. Open for the first time by homeowners Cathy
and John Fitzhugh Millar.
THE COVES
Developed in the mid-1960s as a residential community by the Savage and Cocke
families, the original neighborhood consisted of 24 lots ranging in size from
three-quarter to one-and-three- quarter acres. The location gave residents
proximity to the College of William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg with the
opportunity to site homes in a wooded landscape. Many original homeowners
still reside in the houses they built nearly 40 years ago.
DONALDSON HOME, 149 Ridings Cove. This
house, built in 1991, is the Asian-inspired design of William Zimmerman, renowned
Seattle architect. Situated in a tranquil wooded setting, the residence
is approached through a Japanese walled garden shaded by mature cherry trees
and anchored by mammoth rocks, each imparting special meaning in an Asian garden
by size and placement. The varied architectural mix of roof pitches and
profiles makes possible the surprising variety of the ceilings throughout the
interior spaces.
The soaring ceiling, angular lines and vivid wall color introduced
in the foyer form a fitting backdrop for the owners’ carefully chosen,
lively artwork and sculpture. “Songs of the Soul,” a bronze
work by David Pearson, a Santa Fe sculptor, takes a welcoming stance by the front
door. The meandering floor plan offers multiple views of a charming garden
accented with sculptural pieces and leads to rooms infused both with creative
spirit and a bold use of color. The kitchen and bedrooms are oriented to
the rear of the house with oversized windows providing not only an abundance
of natural light, but also unobstructed vistas of the woods just outside. Open
for the first time for Garden Week by owners Sue and John Donaldson.
HOUGHLAND HOME, 145 Hunting Cove. A pathway
draws the visitor through a collection of mature plantings and sculptural art
before opening to a wooden footbridge that crosses to the entry. If the
axis of this bridge is followed, its line passes through the dining area and
ends on a cantilevered deck which projects into the treetops. The home’s
design appears to advance and recede in the landscape. The natural setting
has been enhanced by a brick pathway that winds through ravines, bending and
resting at special plantings, a fountain and numerous pieces of sculpture before
returning to the home through an arbor. Not only did the homeowner/architect
design and build the house, but also he is creator of the garden sculpture in
this woodland art gallery.
Angles created by the irregular roofline allow for placement of skylights
which provide natural light to showcase artwork and furnishings, even in lower-level
rooms. Windows fill with native woodland vistas. Selected interior spaces are
enhanced by louvered walls. A set of owner-made and Asian-inspired, nesting
and slatted screens expands to enclose the dining room. The unexpected curve
of the kitchen counter delights the eye and gently separates the kitchen workspace
from the living area. Paintings by family members, photo galleries, heirlooms
and an extensive collection of Oriental rugs warm and accent each room. The
house was built in 1974 and is opened for the first time for Historic Garden
Week by homeowners Wright B. “Chips” and Sarah Houghland.
RICHMOND HILL
Richmond Hill was envisioned as a pocket community of urban homes
that maintained in-town convenience while providing the grace and elegance of
manor living. The design premise was drawn along the classic Federal style found
in the cities of Richmond, Alexandria and Georgetown. The intent was to
reproduce the richness of detail and pleasing scale of this style of architecture
while keeping the building facades, landscaping, sidewalks, fences and exterior
lighting both appropriate and compatible.
CORSON HOME, 125 Richmond Hill. Architecturally traditional,
the layout of this house affords a perfect setting for the owners’ collection
of English antiques, artwork and blue and white earthenware, much of which was
acquired when the couple resided in England. Symmetry of design is conveyed by
a matching pair of 18th century demilune tables and gilded mirrors flanking a
classically styled mantelpiece. An English gentleman’s portrait centers
the design. Detailed white moldings and chair rail add definition and character
not only to the vibrant yellow walls of the living room, but also to the blue
and white toile wall covering of the adjacent dining room. The dining room conveys
an English sensibility while the collection of 18th and early 19th century English
Chinese motif transferware displayed in the corner cabinet adds an Oriental verve.
The deeply hued walls of the study provide a fitting backdrop for a collection
of political cartoons by James Gillray, a late-18th century British caricaturist
and printmaker known for his etchings of political and social satire. An unexpected
surprise in the light-filled kitchen area is a charming collection of miniature
porcelain Delft houses. Open for the first time for Historic Garden Week
by David and Jeanne Corson.
KROCHMAL GARDEN, 128
Richmond Hill Court. This charming, loose-knot garden is nestled just off the
brick terrace to the rear of the home. Two mature Harry Lauder walking stick
shrubs flank the entrance to the garden, while two stately juniper topiaries
provide vertical interest. A bubbling fountain takes center stage, bringing
tranquility to the exciting mix of colorful spring blooms teeming within the
brick-enclosed bed.
A second small garden planted in memory of Lily, the owner’s beloved
Cavalier King Charles spaniel, is backed by a soaring climbing hydrangea rising
from a flower bed planted with bleeding hearts, astilbe, creeping speedwell,
dwarf iris and a myriad of other spring flowers. Open by owners Bonnie
and Glenn Krochmal.
OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST:
BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, corner of Duke of Gloucester
and Palace Green. Church docents offer free tours at regular
intervals. Churchyard restorations in 1936, 1955 and 2003 were funded by proceeds
from Historic Garden Week.
On display in St. Mary’s Chapel at Bruton Parish House, one block
west of the Church, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., are the 17th century Jamestown
Communion Silver, the 18th century set given to Governor Botetourt in
1768 by King George III “for use in his private chapel,” and the
newly restored Prayer Book used at Bruton in the 18th century.
A charming Biblical herb garden with adjoining benches borders the brick walkway
to the Parish House.
ADAMS GARDEN, corner of Richmond Road and North Boundary
St. Dedicated in 1986, the garden has become a popular spot for outdoor lunches
and study breaks. Originally planted with azaleas and small bulbs, this enchanting
garden now includes interesting collections of woody and herbaceous material
which can be viewed from the crushed oyster-shell path meandering throughout.
The garden has been lovingly cared for by Madelynn Watkinson, a volunteer who
has worked with support from College of William and Mary staff to create and
maintain this quiet place of beauty. The Williamsburg Garden Club continues its
financial support. The Adams Garden will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on tour
day.