Stranica 281 [281]
ESÉS ee a a ee SNNNÉT
HisTORIC GARDENS OF VIRGINIA
— {= a = = WO
garden, and one of several orchards. [he house and grounds of
Sherwood, as the Seldens planned them, and as they are, for the
most part, still maintained, occupy twenty acres. From the en¬
trance gate, the lawn sweeps for half a mile down to the banks
of the Ware River. To the east lie an orchard, numerous farm
buildings, and a second orchard. To the west from the entrance,
are part of the lawn, the beautiful old garden and a third orchard.
The house, flanked by the many quaint outbuildings of an ante¬
bellum Virginia homestead of its dignity, is of three stories. A
wide veranda runs the full length of two sides of the building. The
first and second floors have four rooms each, separated by wide
halls that sweep through the building from south to north. On
the third floor there are two rooms and another spacious hall.
The windows here are deeply recessed and topped by gables.
In the furnishings of the house there are many rare and lovely
old things in the matter of pictures, glass, silver, and mahogany.
The wide, open fire-places are set oft by mantelpieces that are
simple in design but fine specimens of the classic period of the
cabinetmaker’s art.
But as charming as Sherwood itself is, the true glory of the
place is to be found in its yard and garden. he former contains
many superb trees, of which there are no less than a score of
varieties. The latter is bounded on all four of its sides by giant
trees of several kinds. Roughly speaking, the garden is two hun¬
dred by four hundred feet. The entire eastern side is occupied
by a double row of crepe myrtles. Beneath them runs a broad
walk, edged with slate, and flanked on either side by flower and
shrubbery beds, ten feet wide. The crepe myrtles have attained a
height of fifty feet. In some instances eight and ten stems spring
from a single base more than a foot in diameter. When in full
bloom, as they are during the greater part of July and August,
they present a gorgeous spectacle of color—great pink pyramids
forming an avenue four hundred feet in length. From the entrance
gate a similar walk cuts through to the western arm of the river.
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