Four of five tour stops in MC

Four of the five stops on this year’s annual Dolley Madison Garden Club Tour are in Madison County – William and Ann Tidball’s Ashland in Wolftown, David and Trish Crowe’s Firnew Farm in Hood, Graves Chapel in Graves Mill and Jess and Sharon Sweely’s Sweely Winery Estate between Wolftown and Oak Hill. (There is also one Greene County stop –James and Anne Reel’s South River Farm in the South River Valley.)

The tour, entitled “Legacies from the 1800s Amid the Blue Ridge Foothills … with One Modern Twist,” is set for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. this Saturday, April 18. Advance tickets are available for $20 today and Friday, April 16 and 17, at Greenscapes Nursery at 531 Cedar Hill Road in downtown Madison.

(Greenscapes’ number is [540] 948-6478.) Day of tour tickets are $25; single-site admission is $10. Children age 6-12 are half price; children 5 and younger can participate free of charge. Tickets are available at each location on the tour.

Proceeds from the tour, which is part of a series of Historic Garden Week tours across Virginia, go to restore and maintain the gardens and grounds of the state’s most prominent historic figures, including those of James and Dolley Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Woodrow Wilson, George Mason and Patrick Henry. For information, visit www.GCVirginia.org.

The event’s chairman is Alice Smith of Orange and its assistant chairman is Pamela Hudson of Rapidan.

Pre-ordered box lunches will be available at the Sweely Estate Winery 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for $12. There is a choice of:

· Shaved turkey and Swiss on croissant with mustard and mayonnaise.

· Chilled toasted orzo salad, kalamata olives, tomatoes, red onions, capers, extra virgin olive oil.

Both choices are served with harvest cheddar Sun Chips, Fuji apple, locally baked chocolate chip cookie and a bottle of water.
Elmwood at Sparks will accept lunch orders by telephone at (540) 672-0060. Orders should be placed as far in advance as possible.
Those participating in the tour should note that:

· Due to uneven surfaces at the rural properties, locations are not handicapped-accessible.

· Only 24- or 28-seat buses will be allowed.

· Cars and vans are welcome.

· Flat-soled shoes are recommended for walking.

· Washroom facilities are available at Sweely Estate Winery, Firnew Farm and the Greene County Library, Stanardsville.

· Lemonade will be served at Firnew Farm all day, and iced tea will be available 2-4 p.m. at Graves Chapel.

The following are alphabetically arranged capsules of each stop on the tour. The tour stops include:

· Ashland -- Built in 1862, Ashland, a Federal-style 12-room brick mansion, stands high on a Madison County hill off Willis Road in Wolftown surrounded by rolling farmland and forests that reach out to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. Conservation easements on Ashland and adjoining properties will preserve these beautiful pastoral views for generations to come.

Like the original owner, William Frederick Nicol, who was a self-taught botanist, the current owners are gardeners and value the landscape around Ashland. They have enhanced the beauty of the house and its huge maple trees by planting flowering fruit trees and redbuds. Orderly perennial beds contain an array of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, flowering shrubs, conifers, Japanese maples and Korean boxwoods. Planted adjacent to one of the red barns is a large vegetable garden.

In 1898, the Nicols family sold the property to James Tunstall Willis, who built a schoolhouse in 1912 for the Willis family and neighborhood children. Today the two-story structure stands refurbished as a guest cottage and will be open to visitors. A complete renovation followed the purchase of Ashland in 1964 by the Longley family.

The current owners have added their own refurbishments to the 146-year-old house by installing a new kitchen and antique period furnishings.

This is believed to be the first time the home, owned by the William and Ann Tidball, has been opened to a public tour.

· Firnew Farm -- With a rich history, Firnew Farm off Route 230 in Hood dates to 1732 when King George II granted Francis Conway of Caroline County 10,000 acres in what is today Madison and Greene counties. Eighty years later, in 1812, John Fitzhugh Conway, Francis’ great-grandson and a cousin of James Madison, built a five-room dormered frame house on a beautiful knoll by the Conway River near Hood. The original Federal-style house with double doors and multiple fireplaces provides the central structure of what is now a much larger house. A major addition was built in 1857 and old was blended with new on the exterior with a large front porch.

Inside, the tasteful joining of the two areas is viewed through an old winter kitchen with warming oven and exposed wall (1812) off the downstairs hall. Upstairs, the addition is seen in one of the bedrooms with an exposed chimney breast.

In 2003, the present owners added a modern wing with a spacious farmhouse kitchen, sun room, dining area and family room with cathedral ceiling, balcony and fieldstone fireplace. The combination of old timber beams, stone, and large wrap-around windows overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains gives a tranquil feel to this historic setting.

In keeping with the sensitive restoration and expansion of the house, the owners have installed a geothermal heating and cooling system. The farm is also protected under a conservation easement.

The various architectural styles of the house are repeated in the landscaping with appropriate plantings around the residence. To the side is an informal raised kitchen garden with a brick patio. A small lake lies to the northeast with a charming bridge echoing the contours of Allan Mountain. Located to the east is a cemetery for four generations of Conways.

The milking parlor, from the days when Firnew was a dairy farm, has been converted into an art studio where local artists meet weekly. On Garden Day, there will be an artistic exhibit of native Virginia plants.

This is believed to be the first time the home, owned by David and Trish Crowe, has been opened to a public tour.

· Graves Chapel -- According to the old pulpit Bible, Graves Chapel on Graves Mill Road was built in 1885 as a Baptist meeting house. Written records, however, begin with the Sunday school which was organized in 1888. In April of that year, 65 people were present with a collection of 23 cents. Two doors at the front provided separate entrances for men and women.

A ledger from 1894 states that the church would “do her best” to pay the preacher $75 per month. A parish hall was added to the chapel in 1955, built with money from eggs and the harvest from “God's acres” (land set aside and dedicated to the Lord for a year) and with local materials and labor.

The Graves Mill population declined after the establishment of Shenandoah National Park, and chapel attendance was so small that it was closed in 1969. It was to stand silent for a decade.

In April, 1979, exactly 10 years after the last service, the chapel reopened as an interdenominational fellowship. It took time for the little band of members to rebuild, repair and refurbish. Every year at Christmastime, the chapel is once again adorned with fresh greenery; the men and women can now enter through the same door; the same oil lamps provide natural lighting that shines down on savory pies and cakes; and the community of Graves Mill continues to make history. It is believed to be open for a public tour for the first time for Historic Garden Week.

The chapel is now operated under the authority of Piedmont Episcopal Church in downtown Madison.

· South River Farm -- Nestled on a Greene County hill off South River Road overlooking the South River Valley at the base of Saddleback Mountain, is a handsome antebellum Federal-style brick house approached via a tree-lined driveway. Views of the surrounding country are spectacular and largely unchanged from earlier times.

Capt. Jeremiah McMullen was the first owner of this home, built by slaves in 1854 from local materials including bricks from clay dug and fired on the premises. During the Civil War, McMullen commanded an infantry company, twice sustaining serious wounds, and returned home in 1865 to hard times. The family’s Confederate bonds were worthless. Land, the sole asset remaining, was gradually sold off until only 104 acres remained.

The current owners purchased the property in 1995 and began restoring the house to its former glory with period colors, furnishings and art. The McMullens’ Scottish heritage is celebrated in the “Highland Room” with Black Watch draperies and clan engravings.

Elsewhere, three antique European long-case clocks mark the hours and armoires supplement storage.

The family notes that there are five ghosts, including a mischievous child, in the main house and another rather surly one in the restored antebellum cottage nearby. The substantially landscaped grounds feature masses of spring flowers, majestic boxwoods, hardwoods and expansive lawns.

A family cemetery includes the unmarked graves of eight children who died during Reconstruction. The psychic bond between this property and the Clan McMullen, both stateside and in Scotland, remains unbroken. Family descendants are especially welcomed here.

This is believed to be the first time the home, owned by the James Reel family, has been opened to a public tour.

· Sweely Estate Winery -- Situated off Route 230 near Wolftown in the rolling farmland of Madison County with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance, Sweely Estate Winery (previously Acorn Hill Winery) has had its world-class vineyards, winemaker and production facility in place since 2005 under the direction of University of Bordeaux educated winemaker Frantz Ventre. Now the 300-acre complex is enhanced by a stunning new hospitality center.
In this old world atmosphere, visitors may enjoy wine tastings, an art gallery featuring local artists, a retail boutique, and a culinary center specializing in food from local farms. The elegant facility has panoramic views from the terrace behind the tasting room and the Great Lawn.

Architect William Bowling of Fincastle designed the center with historic European architectural features such as turrets, steep roof lines, and rose and gray tones to complement the burgundy slate roof. With the use of heavy timber, stone and brick as primary building materials, Bowling planned the building with two major rooms connected by a long hallway serving as an art gallery.

The first large room contains the retail boutique and tasting room, separated by a large see-through fireplace. Well-known local cabinet maker Tom Pastore from Madison County fashioned distinctive cabinets and a wine bar for these casual areas. The vintners room and culinary center offer space for special events. Landscaping was designed to have a park-like setting with trees and shrubs native to the area. The great lawn area features a stone wall and pagoda-style structure for outdoor musical groups or weddings. The site is being open for Historic Garden Week tours for the first time. Jess and Sharon Sweely are its owners.

For visitors, 21 and older, the winery is making available a wine tasting with a souvenir wine glass, $5. Pre-ordered box lunches may be picked up at this location, and a limited number of additional lunches will be available for purchase. Bring a blanket to enjoy a picnic on the Great Lawn if weather permits.