Object Details
- General
- The current owners restored the house and then set out to create a series of distinctive, but related, garden rooms using century-old boxwood to frame their creation. The garden enters through the wedding gate to a walled Elizabethan knot garden. Meandering paths lead through a hydrangea and camellia garden and a spring garden full of color and variety. Cross the central walk lined with gigantic boxwood and enter four terraces of formal parterres with arched, rose-covered pergolas and pavilions overlooking yew-enclosed formal rose gardens. The geometric parterre changes with the season and features blue and white anemone de blanda in spring and annuals in summer. An Italianate croquet pitch with fountains and panoramic view is surrounded by pleached European hornbeams. A holly-surrounded badminton lawn, exedrae with sculptured niches, crepe myrtle walk, mixed border, and oval garden culminate in a Moorish gazebo affording views of the rolling countryside. Fountain displays and sculpture abound throughout this garden for all seasons in the classical style.
- The flattest parcel in the ten acres of formal gardens was designed as a vegetable and cutting garden, installed In 2006. There are 19 metal-edged square, triangular and rectangular planting beds with bisecting pea gravel paths on North-South and East-West axes. This garden can be entered down steps from the ornamental garden under a lengthy pergola planted with espaliered crabapple trees, or under an arched gateway in the spindle fence punctuated by pairs of shaped boxwood. Climbing vegetables are supported on hand-hewn cedar tuteurs or in wire cages; beds are mulched with straw. The potager combines function with classical symmetry. Plants include tomatoes, cucumber, cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, dill, lavender, basil, sweet potatoes, zinnias, and daylilies.
- Persons associated with the garden include: Taliaferro family (former owners, 1724-1935); Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Augustus (former owners, 1935-1955); Mrs. Nancy Sasser Eldredge (former owner, 1955-1980); Mr. and Mrs. John S. Clark (former owners, 1985-1995); Louis Bancel LaFarge (architect, 1935-1938); Ellen Biddle Shipman (landscape architect, 1936-1938); and Charles J. Stick (landscape architect, 1998- ).
- Former owner
- Taliaferro family, 1724-1935
- Augustus, Ellsworth Mr
- Augustus, Ellsworth, Mrs.
- Eldredge, Nancy Sasser Mrs
- Clark, John S. Mr
- Clark, John S. Mrs
- Architect
- LaFarge, Louis Bancel
- Landscape architect
- Shipman, Ellen Biddle, 1869-1950
- Stick, Charles J.
- Provenance
- Dolley Madison Garden Club
- Collection Creator
- Garden Club of America
- Place
- Mount Sharon Farm (Orange, Virginia)
- United States of America -- Virginia -- Orange
- Topic
- Gardens -- Virginia -- Orange
- Former owner
- Taliaferro family, 1724-1935
- Augustus, Ellsworth Mr
- Augustus, Ellsworth, Mrs.
- Eldredge, Nancy Sasser Mrs
- Clark, John S. Mr
- Clark, John S. Mrs
- Architect
- LaFarge, Louis Bancel
- Landscape architect
- Shipman, Ellen Biddle, 1869-1950
- Stick, Charles J.
- Provenance
- Dolley Madison Garden Club
- See more items in
- The Garden Club of America collection
- The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / Virginia
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Custodial History
- Dolley Madison Garden Club facilitated the submission of this garden's documentation.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.GCA, File VA365
- Type
- Archival materials
- Digital images
- Slides (photographs)
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
- Collection Rights
- Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Bibliography
- Garden has been featured in "Manor Reborn" in "Private Edens: Beautiful Country Gardens" by Jack Staub, published by Gibbs Smith, 2013, pp. 203-215. Garden has been featured in "A Clearing in the Woods: Creating Contemporary Gardens" by Roger Foley, published by The Monacelli Press, 2009. Garden has been featured in "The Gentleman's Farm: Elegant Country House Living" by Laurie Ossman and Debra A. McClane, published by Rizzoli Press, 2016. Garden has been featured in "Mount Sharon, a Classical Garden in Virginia" by Adrian Higgins, published in The Washington Post, May 9, 2012. Garden has been featured in "A Garden Gate Swings Back in Time" by Adrian Higgins and Tracy A. Woodward in The Washington Post's Loudoun edition of Local Living published May 10, 2012. Garden has been featured in "Formal Estate, Inside the Box" by Steve Bender, published in Southern Living Best Southern Gardens special anniversary edition, Spring 2016, pp. 56-59. Garden has been featured in "The Vantage and the Vista" by Christine Ennulat, published in Virginia Living, April 2010, pp. 102-109.
- Genre/Form
- Digital images
- Slides (photographs)
- Scope and Contents
- The folders include worksheets, photocopies of articles, blog postings, and garden plans.
- Collection Restrictions
- Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1643208220039-1643210188197-0
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