Historic Gardens of Virginia 



and Is now used as a picturesque water tower with the farm bell 

 hanging midway. At its base is a great bed of red-stemmed mint — 

 that pungent herb reminiscent of bygone joys when the making of 

 a mint-julep was not a lost art. 



With keen appreciation of the architectural beauty and value of 

 the place, Hampstead was bought by William J. Wallace, in 1903, 

 and restored without changing the original design. When pur- 

 chased, practically all of the flowering shrubs had been removed 

 from the lawn as, after falling into alien hands, the old place had 

 been much abused. There were large gaps in the boxwood circle 

 and hedges, made by the stock which was permitted to wander at 

 will. Pigs had been running wild in the area, much to the detrac- 

 tion of both lawn and shrubbery. Even the great house had been 

 commandeered to serve them, one enterprising tenant having built 

 a trough to run out of the north drawing-room window as an easy 

 means of disposing of garbage, or feeding the pigs from grain 

 stored in some of the second-floor rooms. 



It has been the policy of the present owners to work from the 

 house outwards, replanting shrubs and flowers in the immediate 

 surroundings — at the base of the house; by the steps; in front of 

 the old-fashioned ice-house; around the little office on the lawn 

 and in other places of that kind before completing the restoration 

 of the wonderful old terraced garden. In this day of scarce and 

 incompetent labor, this garden seems more a memory of what it 

 was, though the original terraces themselves are still intact. 



But to the lover of old-fashioned flowers, the peculiar charm 

 of the terraced garden will be most striking. It lies to the west of 

 the house beyond the shade of the lawn trees. The deeply-sodded 

 terraces have endured the waste of years, and overhanging them 

 are large crepe-myrtle trees in pale-pink, lavender, and cerise. Old- 

 fashioned jonquils are there — iris, narcissi, peonies, and the 

 Star of Bethlehem. Cherokee roses run riot and the little yellow 

 Scotch or Harrison rose has found there a most congenial soil. 



For those loving the memory of the years long gone, old songs 



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