The Piedmont Section 



and spacious rooms. Antique furnishings and oil paintings of one 

 Hairston generation after another further impress the idea of the 

 length of days that is a heritage of this mansion. 



Other than its situation and the appearance of the residence, 

 there is another charm to Oak Hill. This is its old, old-time flower 

 garden. Here- Wordsworth would have been at a loss to have 

 worked into metre the names of such a host of flowers. The wind- 

 ing walks, with their neatly trimmed boxwood borders, are a strik- 

 ing feature, but at every turn and on every side there are shrubs 

 of every name, and in passing the blossoms our grandmothers used 

 to love and care for peep out here and there; evergreen trees 

 towering above all furnish shaded retreats, and a dreaminess and 

 rest steals over one as this contact is made with so much beauty 

 and fragrance in flora's bower. A cedar house is one attraction; 

 a mammoth magnolia tree, raised from seed brought from Florida 

 seventy or eighty years ago, holds attention to another point, but 

 the grove of wild olive trees outrivals all else in interest, for it has 

 a tradition in the supposition of having been brought from the East 

 by a tourist in the Hairston family. The trunks of the trees and 

 the manner of growth are similar to those of Palestine, but this 

 resemblance is not the only thing to make them worthy of cultiva- 

 tion. Its resplendent lustre of fern-like foliage throughout the year 

 and its lily of the valley-like flowers and beautiful winter berries 

 make it a prized evergreen, as pretty and effective as any for 

 decoration. 



This olive grove, magnolia tree and winding walks and oval 

 and square and rectangular flower beds are not all. The view 

 from any of its terraces of the low ground stretching away right 

 to the bank of the Dan, flowing on so slowly as if loath to 

 leave so inviting a spot, makes for this garden an enchantment 

 equal to its own charms. Visitors often state that its situation and 

 arrangement make it so beautiful that it must be like the old castle 

 gardens described or painted by novel writers. 



The present Mrs. Hairston, nee Miss Jopling, of Danville, an 



