The Piedmont Section 



home. The wings were added after 1890 by Mr. C. D. Langhorne, 

 as was also the beautiful rock enclosure and handsome gateway. 



Hospitality at Mirador was part of its atmosphere. The Vir- 

 ginia woman from her earliest training knew that she was ex- 

 pected to be a good neighbor and a gracious hostess, however hard 

 and inconvenient it might often be, and from old letters and diaries 

 It would appear that Mirador was continually having what today we 

 would call a house party. 



The University of Virginia is only seventeen miles away — just 

 the distance to cover on horseback, reaching Mirador in time for 

 tea or to spend the night, or it might be several nights when there 

 was "special company." At that time, when some of the belles and 

 beaux of that day were guests in this charming home, there would 

 be dancing each evening, and the negro fiddlers would call the 

 figures as the young people would turn their partners and swing 

 corners in the picturesque dances and the popular Sir Roger de 

 Coverly. 



Prominent among the guests In the early days at Mirador was 

 Colonel Crozet, the distinguished French engineer in charge of 

 the extension of the Virginia Central Railroad, which at that time 

 only ran to the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but which, under 

 Colonel Crozet, after eight years of hard work, crossed the 

 mountains and opened up the great Valley of Virginia, and the 

 greater West, to modern transportation. During these years 

 (1850-58) the distinguished engineer spent much time at Mirador. 



With all its air of stability and gracious dignity the real charm 

 of Mirador lay in its grounds. The lawn, or yard, to use the less 

 pretentious term of that day, was terraced, making a "falling 

 garden." Stone steps led from terrace to terrace, and brick walks, 

 flanked by low-growing box, made a background for the lovely 

 monthly roses — the roses of Provence — that filled these and the 

 two long borders that ran from the hospitable front door to the 

 lower terrace. Under the windows there were lilacs, crepe myrtles, 

 and jasmines, where the robins found their first resting places In 



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