Oldal 242 [242]
WESI END
Green Springs in its rural charm. There are no
RG} magnificent views, no prodigies of nature, but the
coloring and exquisite contour of the land, the
woods that define and give value to every stretch
of field and meadow, make this a country pre¬
eminently fitted for homes.
Years ago the little mineral spring, that gives this part of Louisa
County its name, was a popular summer resort, but even the oldest
inhabitant can just remember the decrepid bath-house that survived
the hotel and cottages.
The rock formation about this spring is confined to a compara¬
tively small area, several miles long, and two or three miles wide.
The rock is soft and speckled throughout with green. It is said
to be the bed of a prehistoric lake.
The soil in this section is particularly fertile, and that, no doubt,
tempted the first Watson and the first Morris to come to Louisa
County. They, with their descendants, owned the land for over
a hundred years and built the homes that are standing today—
-lonia, ““the Old Place’; Sylvania, Bracketts, Hawkwood, Grass¬
dale, and Westend. Most of these estates have passed in late years
from the hands of their original owners and, as usual, when places
pass from hand to hand, the gardens have suffered most. Now,
there is barely a trace left of the early gardens with one exception,
and that is the garden of Westend. This garden lives today un¬
touched, a perfect example of the landscape art of its day.
The house at Westend was built in 1849 by Mrs. James Wat¬
son, who was Miss Susan Dabney Morris, of Sylvania. Mrs. Wat¬
son, so far as we know, designed the garden and planted the
srounds at Westend herself, but just as we feel Le Notre, at
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