Historic Gardens of Virginia 



Mr. Baker, coming to this country in 1827 and visiting Mount 

 Airy, speaks of "the large conservatory with orange and lemon 

 trees put upon the grass." And in the biography of Thomas 

 Dabney, of Gloucester, one reads of a famous dinner given to the 

 Marquis de LaFayette. He says, "It was in the month of October, 

 and there was a small dish of red Antwerp raspberries, sent by 

 Mrs. Tayloe, of Mount Airy. They came from her hot-house, 

 and were set before General LaFayette." 



The present owners of Mount Airy use the three sides of 

 the bowling green for flowers and, also, below the terraces on either 

 side to the brink of the hill. The borders of the bowling green are 

 a glowing mass of jonquils, narcissi, cowslips, iris in the spring. 

 In summer these are followed by peonies, pansies, roses, poppies, 

 hollyhocks, snapdragon, larkspur, phlox, sweet william, canterbury 

 bells, ragged robin, and madonna lilies. Asters and chrysanthe- 

 mums usher in the fall, making it possible to have flowers following 

 each other in endless succession, the house always filled with them. 



One could never forget the great central hall, so high pitched, 

 so softly colored, and so restful, with over twenty vases of flowers, 

 a strangely sweet and Oriental perfume coming from the sofa- 

 pillows, filled with dried, wild sweet clover. In this hall are many 

 fine pieces of old furniture. Everything at Mount Airy has 

 grown old beautifully, through the care of and association with 

 gentle, refined people, to whom living was an art. 



Here is the large and gaily-decorated music box, where a hun- 

 dred tunes can still be played. How often have the belles and 

 beaux of long ago in knee-breeches and patches trod a stately 

 measure to its music; for Mount Airy was as famous for its 

 lavish hospitality as for its ardent patriotism. 



The faces of these ancestral folk still look down upon one: 

 Colonial Governors, Burgesses, Ofl^cers of His Majesty's Army, 

 and beautiful ladies are there. One English visitor to this country 

 said that the portrait gallery at Mount Airy was the finest private 

 one he had seen in this country. One of the sweetest faces is that 



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