The Piedmont Section 



himself, "Here lies Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration 

 of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom 

 and Father of the University of Virginia." 



The second gate opens out on the lawn, and here the house 

 comes into full view; on the left of the driveway are the servants' 

 quarters and on the right the garden. 



This garden is arranged in a chain of rectangular plots, with 

 grass walks between. Originally, vegetables were planted here in 

 long rows to be easily worked by horse and plow. There was a 

 background of native shrubs and trees through which one caught 

 glimpses of the valley below and the distant strip of the pine belt. 

 Old-fashioned shrubs were scattered throughout the garden near 

 the paths and in the angles. Further on, just before one approaches 

 the overseer's house, there is seen a small graveyard owned by the 

 Levy family, the present owners of the property. 



On the left of this driveway was once a greensward running 

 along the side of the quarters, or southern pavilion, and in the 

 spring it was a mass of bulbous flowers familiar to old homes, such 

 as jonquils, single blue Roman hyacinths and Stars of Bethlehem. 

 The blue feathered hyacinth (Muscari comosum monstrosum) 

 found congenial environment here. This was a rare flower in those 

 days, and today is not generally seen here. 



With such evidence of remains of a garden, one readily con- 

 jectures that on this gentle slope, protected from the north by the 

 servants' quarters and work shops and exposed to the warm rays 

 of the sun from the south, Jefferson must have laid out here an 

 ornamental and terraced garden. 



In an old book we read that "The nail factory, the machine 

 shops and weaving room were on the southeast of the house, beyond 

 which was the terraced garden in which he delighted to exhibit his 

 horticultural products." 



His granddaughter, Sarah Randolph, in her "Life of Thomas 

 Jefferson," constantly refers to his love of trees and shrubs and 

 of their intimate walks in the garden. One pictures them strolling 



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