Stranica 465 [465]
HisTio mic: GA PRENS OF. VIRGINIA
the spring and where later on they made their nests. The trees on
the terraces are one of the chief beauties of the place. There are
splendid oaks, and old hemlocks, yews that came from a far country,
maples, holly and mimosa.
The garden proper was behind the house and was enclosed by
a white paling fence over which grew jasmines and climbing roses
in great profusion, filling the air with their sweetness in the season
of bloom.
Like the gardens of that day, there were vegetable squares
edged with flowers, broad grass walks hedged by box and old¬
fashioned perennials of every kind, where jonquils, tulips, violets
and hyacinths welcomed the spring, and peonies, roses and sweet¬
scented lilies held sway later on. here were masses of shrubbery
and tall growing box, as well as jasmines and lilacs. Further on
were the grape arbors, currant and gooseberry bushes.
It would be hard to say when Mirador was at its loveliest—
whether in the June sunshine when the air was filled with the odor
of all the blooming things and the shadows on the lawn were cool!
and beguiling, or in winter, when the first snows had fallen and
turned the hemlocks, ivy and yews into a dream garden and the
moon shone down on this peaceful valley with the mountains all
white in the distance.
The old "Post Road" leading from Richmond and Washington
to Staunton wound its way through this mountainous country in
front of the Mirador lawn, and many noted travelers have stopped
to rest a while at the old “Long House Tavern,” just a short
distance east of the place, before continuing their journey over
the tortuous rocky road which led across the Blue Ridge Moun¬
tains and on into the Valley of Virginia.
Mirador, at the death of Colonel Bowen passed to his daughter,
Mary, who had married Colonel O. R. Funsten, of Clarke County,
and it was held by the Funsten family until 1890, when it was sold
to C. D. Langhorne, and is now the home of his granddaughter,
Mrs. Ronald Tree. BESSIE CARTER FUNSTEN.
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