October, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



379 



To the south of 

 the mansion is the 

 garden, the entrance 

 to which is through 

 a quaint oldgateway. 



It is laid out with 

 walks extending in 

 both directions and 

 bordered by a box 

 hedge. This gar- 

 den was laid out by 

 Mary, wife of Hill 

 Carter, and c o n- 

 tained almost every 

 kind of growing 

 plant and shrub, the 

 whole of which is 

 now inclosed by a 

 high box hedge. 



"Shirley" stands 

 as a noble m o n u- 

 ment to its builder 

 and founders, and 

 the hospitality which 

 was extended in the 

 good old Colonial 



days of the Old Dominion is still maintained by the present 

 owners, who have naturally inherited this characteristic from 

 their distinguished ancestors. 



Indeed, who could not but be hospitable amid such sur- 

 roundings and such memories? The association of hospi- 

 tality with the dwelling is nowhere more finely nor more 

 completely illustrated than on the James River, and in the 

 very houses which are now being passed in review. The 

 natural inborn courtesies of the owners, past and present. 



The Famous Staircase in the Lower Hall 



have dowered these 

 superb old mansions 

 with a tradition for 

 hospitality almost 

 without a peer 

 among the great 

 houses of America. 



Nor is their 

 continuous owner- 

 ship and occupancy 

 by a single family, 

 or members or 

 branches of a single 

 family, without im- 

 portant value. The 

 modern house is 

 built for modern 

 use, and many a 

 great new structure 

 has passed out of 

 the possession of its 

 builder's family 

 within a few years 

 after it has been 

 completed. But the 

 old builders of the 



James River built for longer years than their own, built 

 charmingly and well, so that their children and children's 

 children loved the old places, lived in them and cared for 

 them. 



The survival of these mansions is, therefore, a significant 

 fact, possessing a sociological as well as an architectural or 

 esthetic value. It means a new idea of home, or rather the 

 old idea, exemplified, magnified and illustrated in the finest 

 possible way. 



Main Entrance to " Shirley " Doorway in the Drawing-room 



