Historic Gardens of Virginia 



floors of wide boards and hand-wrought nails brought over from 

 England, are still intact. The house is entirely hidden from sight, 

 and if one should go to the very bottom of the steep hill and peer 

 up with all their eyes, only the tops of the dormer windows would 

 be their reward. 



Unlike the house, the grounds had a very different tale to tell. 

 Nothing was left of the spacious lawn with its many shade trees 

 and flowering shrubs, though here and there a few lilacs and crepe 

 myrtles bloom bravely on. Remnants of the formal garden could 

 still be seen, with its oblong plots, edged with box to keep the unruly 

 little plants off those neat gravel paths. But the avenue of lindens, 

 which bordered the brick walk leading to the house, had long since 

 been cut down, one lone tree standing guard near the doorway. 



At the south of the house, and overlooking the river, are five 

 terraces covered with old-fashioned flags, which must be a marvel 

 of beauty in the spring. Fig bushes bask in the southern sun, 

 while at the east of the house a few gnarled fruit trees and a quaint 

 old grape arbor stand. The pit on the slope of one of the ter- 

 races, still used by the Sisters, is filled with bloom. 



Benedict Arnold, in his brief raid on Richmond, used this house, 

 as well as St. John's Church, as barracks for his British soldiers. 



Thomas Jefferson was an intimate friend and frequent guest 

 of Colonel Adams, and we can picture the two on that memorable 

 March day of 1775, their breasts filled with apprehension, hurry- 

 ing over to St. John's Church, where Patrick Henry was so soon 

 to sway that illustrious body of men, and where then and there 

 George Washington determined on his definite policy of war. 



Home of Dr. John Adams 



Dr. John Adams, the third son of Colonel Richard Adams, 

 built on the corner of Twenty-fourth and Grace Streets that stately 

 mansion which, up to a few years ago, was such an ornament to 

 the eastern part of the city. It stood on one of the highest of 

 Richmond's seven hills, its dignified appearance, as seen from the 



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