BARBOURSVILLE 



ARBOURSVILLE, in Orange County, once held 

 the honor of being the loveliest home in the foot- 

 hills of Virginia. It was built by Governor James 

 Barbour, about 1815, and was much like Frascati, 

 the home of his brother, Philip Pendleton Barbour. 

 Both of these houses were designed by Thomas Jef- 

 ferson, who was generous with his talents in building houses while 

 building a great republic, and left a conspicuous monument to him- 

 self in the home of his friend, James Barbour. There were the 

 characteristic red-brick and white Doric columns, but never have 

 they been assembled with more beauty nor in more dignified 

 proportion. 



To the mistress of Barboursville we give all the credit for the 

 garden, although its surrounding serpentine wall, like that at the 

 University of Virginia, suggests again the helping hand of Mr. 

 Jefferson. There must have been hundreds — perhaps thousands — 

 of box plants set out at that time, for today you may see a veritable 

 forest of box trees both inside and outside the garden. Double 

 av^enues of box lead off to where the stables used to be, and the 

 front lawn is entirely surrounded, except for an open vista just in 

 front of the house through which the eye is lured to the long, 

 green field and the meadow beyond. Here was the location of 

 the "Riding Greens"; and one can, in imagination, complete the 

 picture with red-coated riders on prancing horses following the 

 hounds into the distance. 



The original garden covered nearly three acres, and was entirely 

 surrounded by the serpentine wall of red brick. Old records show 

 that these bricks were brought in ox-carts from Fredericksburg. 

 Truly we have not inherited the patience of our ancestors, for we 

 try to build a garden in a day. 



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