The Richmond, Virginia area hosts three house and garden tours as part of Historic Garden Week in Virginia on Tuesday April 20, Wednesday April 21, and Thursday April 22. This is the 77th Historic Garden Week organized by The Garden Club of Virginia. and is the oldest and largest program of its kind in the nation. Creating beautiful gardens has been the tradition in Virginia since the 17th century. More than 200 homes throughout Virginia will be open to visitors to benefit historic preservation and restoration of important historic gardens. Previous projects include gardens formerly owned by such notables as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Patrick Henry, to name a few. This worthwhile cause affords visitors the opportunity to enjoy and visit private gardens and homes bursting with the blooms and promise of Virginia’s beautiful spring.
Make your plans now to stay in our Richmond inn and be centrally located to the three Richmond tours: Windsor Farms, Church Hill, and West Avenue in the historic Fan District – just 3 blocks away! Plan a Spring getaway with us, after a hearty gourmet breakfast Tuesday morning spend the day visiting the Windsor Farms neighborhood.
Between 10 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday April 20th, 7 homes and gardens reflecting elegant family living from a 1950′s Cape Cod with a seamless integration of old and new spaces, to a stately 1929 Tudor, one of the first houses built in Windsor Farms. Also featured are a 1935 formal brick Georgian, a former ranch remodeled twice and featuring an extensive art collection, and a stone cottage built as a wedding present in the early 1930′s. Art, antiques, family heirlooms, a mix of old and new, and lush gardens invite visitors to enjoy the best of Richmond’s Windsor Farms neighborhood. To rest your weary toes, head back to our bed and breakfast for the evening wine and cheese hour and relish in our private urban garden while you plan your dining experience at one of our neighborhood eateries.
Wednesday, April 21st, from 10 AM to 4:30 PM, it’s off to Church Hill! A rousing reenactment of Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or GIve Me Death” speech at St. John’s Church is free as a special bonus to Garden Week’s Church Hill ticket holders. Plan to be seated by 12:30 PM, reenactment will last about 40 minutes. The Church Hill neighborhood has been undergoing a careful and painstaking restoration movement of its historic properties for at least the past 50 years. One of Carrington Row’s homes will be featured; as will the Burton Farrar House built between 1818 and 1824. A Greek Revival built in 1861, St John’s Mews (a carefully constructed landscaping project on the site of two demolished buildings), a Federal period “bowfront” residence from about 1810, and an Italianate home built in 1881 are all featured. Spend the day touring Church Hill and then return to our Greek Revival bed and breakfast built in 1869 for another chance to select from neighborhood dining spots and to enjoy our private urban garden.
After Thursday’s breakfast, a short three block stroll takes you to the West Avenue Plus Two Walking Tour. Homes and gardens are open between 10 Am and 4:30 PM along one of the prettiest streets in Richmond’s Historic Fan District. Townhouses open to Historic Garden Week ticket holders are as diverse as their owners: from sophisticated, contemporary, fashionable, eclectic, traditional, to precisely refined. Art ranges from African wildlife to contemporary, from abstract to portraits. Gardens include a petit jardin Francais, a planted patio created by a garden historian and author, as well as a walled Charleston garden. This is city-living at its best and a tour not to be missed!
Each tour requires an individual ticket available at the Garden Week website, along with more detailed information, including a special offer for a statewide ticket. So pick your room now, and take advantage of our central location for all three Richmond tours. You won’t be disappointed.
