Historic Gardens of Virginia 



garden, and one of several orchards. The 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 off 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. The 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 eiajht 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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