The Garden Club of Virginia: Historic Restorations Project | Introduction

Introduction

The Garden Club of Virginia is an active association of 47 clubs, whose members together form a group of more than 3,300 civic leaders from around the state. The purposes of The Garden Club of Virginia are to promote gardening among amateurs; to protect native trees, wild flowers and birds; to encourage conservation of natural resources; to promote civic planting; to encourage roadside beautification; and to aid in the restoration and preservation of Virginia's historic gardens.

This commitment to historic garden restoration dates practically from the inception of the club in the 1920s. Through the efforts of its Restoration Committee, some 40 such projects have been undertaken between 1924 and 2004, the records for most of which may now be found in the collections of the Virginia Historical Society. Selections from those records are presented here to allow students of historic gardens to trace the development and contributions of the club's efforts in Virginia. Its Restoration Committee set high standards for the selection of sites, research on specific gardens and gardening history, restoration and preservation activities, and long-term commitment to garden care and maintenance.

For more information on The Garden Club of Virginia and its various programs, including its annual flower shows and annual Historic Garden Week, visit www.gcvirginia.org.

In addition to the historic properties featured on this site, The Garden Club of Virginia has restored landscapes at many others including the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, Historic St. Luke’s Church, Hollins University, Lee Hall, Moses Myers House, and Poplar Forest. For the complete list of restorations, please visit http://www.gcvirginia.org/restorations.cfm.

Photographic images

Please note that photographic images featured on these web pages show garden properties at various stages of restoration, but do not necessarily represent the gardens as they appear today. The collection was received in 1997 from The Garden Club of Virginia and accession records bear that year date, but the photographs themselves were taken at various times between the 1920s and the 1990s, although exact dates are often difficult to ascertain.

Resources

For additional information on the first twenty-three of The Garden Club's restoration projects, see Dorothy Hunt Williams, Historic Virginia Gardens: Preservations by The Garden Club of Virginia (Charlottesville, The University Press of Virginia, 1975).

Purchase Historic Virginia Gardens (University of Virginia Press, 2009) by Margaret Page Bemiss online

To access the descriptive records of the Garden Club's Restoration Committee papers at the Virginia Historical Society, search the online catalog.

Ordering Reproductions

Copies of images featured on these pages may be obtained through the Virginia Historical Society.
Click here for information on ordering reproductions

Any reproduction or other use of images from The Garden Club papers cannot be made without permission from the Virginia Historical Society and The Garden Club of Virginia.

Last updated September 1, 2011

	Featured Properties
	Adam Thoroughgood House 1636 Parish Road Virginia Beach, Va. 23455 View images [11]
	Bruton Parish Church Duke of Gloucester Street Williamsburg, Va. 23187 View images [10]
	Burwell-Morgan Mill Center of Village Millwood, Va. 22646 View images [11]
	Christ Church Christchurch, Va. 23031 View images [7]
	Christ Church - Lancaster 420 Christ Church Road, P.O. Box 24 Irvington, Va. 22480 View images [16]
	Fincastle Presbyterian Church Fincastle, Va. 24090 View images [8]
	Gunston Hall Lorton, Va. 22079 View images [14]
	Kenmore 1201 Washington Avenue Fredericksburg, Va. 22401 View images [21]
	Kent-Valentine House 12 East Franklin Street Richmond, Va. 23219 View images [9]
	Lee Chapel Washington and Lee University Lexington, Va. 24450 View images [6]
	Mary Washington House 1204 Charles Street Fredericksburg, Va. 22401 View images [18]
	Mary Washington Monument Washington Avenue Fredericksburg, Va. 22401 View images [9]
	Monticello Route 53, P.O. Box 316 Charlottesville, Va. 22902 View images [14]
	Point of Honor 112 CabeIl Street Lynchburg, Va. 24504 View images [14]
	Rolfe-Warren House Smith's Fort Plantation Route 31, P.O. Box 240 Surry, Va. 23883 View images [13]
	Scotchtown Scotchtown Road Beaverdam, Va. 23015 View images [21]
	St. John's Mews Church Hill, south of Broad (between 23rd & 24th Streets) Richmond, Va. View images [17]
	Stratford Hall Stratford, Va. 22558 View images [14]
	University of Virginia Pavilion Gardens Charlottesville, VA 22903 View images [35]
	Wilton 215 South Wilton Road, Box 8225 Richmond, Va. 23226 View images [9]
	Woodlawn Plantation Route 1, Box 37 Mount Vernon, Va. 22121 View images [18]
	Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library 24 North Coalter Street, P.O. Box 24 Staunton, Va. 24402 View images [12]

Introduction

Photographic images

Resources

Ordering Reproductions

Featured Properties