SALUBRIA: an interpretation of its garden and landscape heritage

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Sonia Brenner

William D. Rieley FellowshipGarden Club of Virginia

2010

S A L U B R I A : a n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f i t s g a r d e n a n d l a n d s c a p e h e r i t a g e

Stevensburg Virginia

Copyright 2010 by The Garden Club of Virginia.All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction:

All material contained herein is the intellectual property of the Garden Club of Virginia except where noted. Permission for reproduction, except for personal use, must be obtained from:

The Fellowship Committee, ChairTThe Garden Club of VirginiaThe Kent-Valentine House12 East Franklin StreetRichmond, VA 23219www.gcvirginia.org

©

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Garden Club of Virginia for their support and leadership

Will Rieley and Roxanne Brouse for their rich insights and patient guidance

Kathy Ellis and The Germanna Foundation for their knowledge of Salubria and commitment to its future

Leslie Grayson for sharing her family’s story and her insights into Salubria’s landscape heritage

Leta and Dick Scherquist for sharing their rich recollections of Salubria and providing on-site support

Ann Miller, Calder Loth, Kerri Barile, Nancy Kraus, Clark Hall, Mary Hughes, and Matthew Reeves for sharing their

bountiful knowledge of Virginia’s history, architecture, and landscape

Chris Gist for lending his GIS expertise to this project

The University of Virginia Special Collections and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for their archival expertise

Salubria: house, south terrace, and falling garden

Middle terrace in the falling garden with Grayson graves

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CONTENTS

I Overview of Salubria

2 Spotswood, Germanna, and the Transformation of the Virginia Frontier

3 Origins of Salubria

4 Salubria’s Garden and Landscape over Time

5 Alden Hopkins at Salubria

6 Salubria in the context of Eighteenth-Century Gardens

7 Spotswood as Gardener

8 Overview of Falling Gardens

9 Conclusion

Notes:

The author can be reached at [email protected].

Images included in this report without other credits were made by the author.

The name "Salubria," Latin for healthful, was not used until the property was owned by the Hansbroughs (1802-1853). For ease and clarity, the name Salubria is used in this report to designate the house, garden, and property at all times throughout its history.

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House and surrounding elevations (darkest areas are lowest) House and surrounding slopes (densest areas are steepest)

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PLANT LIST

TREES

AH Aesculus hippocastanum Horsechestnut

AJ Albizia julibrissin Mimosa

CB Catalpa bignonioides Southern Catalpa

CF Cornus florida Flowering Dogwood

CK Cladastris kentukea Yellowwood

CO Celtis occidentalis Hackberry

FG Fagus grandifolia American Beech

JN Juglans nigra Black Walnut

JV Juniperus virginiana Eastern Redcedar

KP Koelreuteria paniculata Goldenraintree

LT Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip Poplar

RP Robinia pseudoacacia Black Locust

PS Pinus strobus White Pine

QP Quercus phellos Willow Oak

SHRUBS

BS Buxus sempervirens Common Boxwood

SV Syringa vulgaris Common Lilac

Falling garden today Section a - a’ through falling garden looking north (cottage and house in elevation)

Speculation on appearance of falling garden during it earliest period During an earlier era, it is likely that only low-growing plants or grass were planted in the garden so that the dramatic earthwork would be visible.

The Garden Club of Virginia

Sonia BrennerWilliam D. Rieley Fellow

summer 2010

SALUBRIAStevensburg, Virginia

1” = 40’

20’ 40’ 80’

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Community Cemetery

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former location of ice house

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Grayson headstone

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Plan of Salubria, 2010

PLANT LIST

TREESAH Aesculus hippocastanum HorsechestnutAJ Albizia julibrissin MimosaCB Catalpa bignonioides Southern CatalpaCF Cornus florida Flowering DogwoodCK Cladastris kentukea YellowwoodCO Celtis occidentalis HackberryFG Fagus grandifolia American BeechJN Juglans nigra Black WalnutJV Juniperus virginiana Eastern RedcedarKP Koelreuteria paniculata GoldenraintreeLT Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip PoplarRP Robinia pseudoacacia Black LocustPS Pinus strobus White PineQP Quercus phellos Willow Oak

SHRUBSBS Buxus sempervirens Common BoxwoodSV Syringa vulgaris Common Lilac

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figure 2. Salubria in context: significant landscape figures, transport routes, and settlements

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Route 3 Ger manna Highway STEVENSBURG

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BRANDY STATION

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I. OVERVIEW OF SALUBRIA

Salubria is a mid-eighteenth century house and garden located in Culpeper County in the Piedmont region of Virginia (figure 1). Situated between the fall line to the east and the Blue Ridge to the west, the geography of the Piedmont region is characterized by rolling hills. Salubria itself sits atop a ridge; its terraced (or “falling”) garden was carved out of this ridge. The larger landscape around Salubria speaks of the region’s history over the centuries (figure 2). Salubria is one mile east of the small town of Stevensburg, eight miles southeast of Culpeper, the county seat, and about five miles south of the community of Brandy Station. Each of these towns saw significant action during the Civil War; the fighting also passed over the grounds of Salubria itself. Just north of the property across Route 3 is Hansbrough’s Ridge, another important Civil War encampment and battlefield (the Hansbrough family owned Salubria from 1802 to 1853). To the west of the house and gardens at Salubria is a view of Mount Pony, the highest peak nearby and the site of a signal station during the war. Salubria is about four miles north of the Rapidan river, a tributary of the Rappahannock, which Spotswood named for its rapidly flowing waters and to honor Queen Anne. The overall site plan at Salubria consists of terracing north and south of the house; the falling garden lies beyond the south terrace (figure 3). This chapter considers each of these elements in turn. Today, the Germanna Foundation owns a 19.5 acre parcel of the original Salubria property including the house and garden. This parcel is surrounded by 232 acres that belong to the Grayson family as Blue Ridge Farm, Incorporated.

RIDGE AND VALLEY BLUE RIDGE PIEDMONT

Salubria

COASTAL PLAIN

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figure 1. Salubria is located in the Piedmont physiographic region of Virginia.(diagram modified from Woodward and Hoffman, 1991)

figure 3. Landscape zones at Salubria and approximate dimensions. Naming here is descriptive, not official.

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north yard terrace

north house terrace

south terrace

upper terrace

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lower terrace

middleterrace

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s i d e s l o p e

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33’ 66’66’

93’

110’

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APPROACH

From Route 3, a gravel entry drive leads towards the house and garden at Salubria (figure 4). Although the Route 3 corridor did not exist when Salubria was built in the mid-eighteenth century, it is likely that the approach led from the north throughout Salubria’s history1. The approach to an estate like Salubria was typically designed to make a strong impression on visitors. Entry drives were often straight on axis with the house and often lined with trees to emphasize the formality of the approach and the importance of the house. Today, the entry drive is loosely defined on the east by a row of redcedars. This row gives spatial definition to the drive and a degree of formality to the approach. The redcedar row has been present since the early twentieth century, if not before. Today, the entry drive is roughly on-axis with the house up until a point where the house is within sight, when it veers off to the west of the house and forms a loop drive (figure 5). A 1937 aerial photograph shows an earlier version of this drive that was more closely aligned with the house axis and continued to the south (figure 6).

figure 4. Entry drive and redcedar row figure 5. Within sight of the house, the drive veers to the west

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1937 2010

A row of redcedars (Juniperus virginiana) lined the entry drive to Salubria in 1937.

The row and drive seem to roughly align with the main axis of the house.

The row is still apparent in 2010, although the road has shifted slightly downhill to the west.

The new road alignment is less aligned with the main axis of the house.

route 3 route 3

main house

outbuildingscottage

main house

figure 6. Persistent redcedar row, shifting road: comparison of aerial photos of Salubria

1” = 250’ 1” = 250’

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HOUSE SITE

The entry drive leads towards the north grounds and house facade (figure 7), which were therefore the more public side of the estate. The area around the house was likely leveled to create a platform. The north lawn bears traces of earthwork that may indicate locations earlier roads or even outbuildings (figures 8-9). The pair of catalpa trees that loosely frame the north facade of the house are likely around 150 years old based on their appearance in old photographs. Plantings around the house will be discussed further in chapter 5. Like other great houses, Salubria is sited on a rise for both practical and symbolic reasons: to create drainage away from the house, to catch breezes in the summer, and to command a view over the surrounding landscape. The house is aligned only a few degrees off from the north-south axis. The house’s central hallway plan allows views straight through to the south terrace and falling gardens (figures 10-11). The south side was the more intimate, more private side of the house. The level south lawn is similar to a bowling green, a flat level lawn common in colonial estates. Starting at the house steps, part of this lawn is paved in a pattern of brick and river stones (see plan p7); the origins of this design are unknown. In 1956, the south lawn was encircled with a hedge of boxwood following a design by landscape architect Alden Hopkins (see chapter 5).

figure 7. View of Salubria from the north. Note level area around house, pair of catalpa trees in front of facade, and entry drive at right.

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figure 8. View from west showing the earthwork in front of house

figure 10. Central hallway at Salubria figure 11. View from hallway to south terrace

figure 9. View from house looking north showing possible trace of entry road on axis with house

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FALLING GARDEN The falling garden is located just beyond the south terrace (figures 12-13). There appear to be three constructed terraces separated by two built slopes; these landforms were made by manipulating the form of the existing ridge2. The terraces are imperfectly aligned with the main axis of the house (figure 15). Today, the three terraces are maintained in turf while dense vegetation (including tall trees) covers the slopes and defines the eastern edge of the falling garden (figure 13). During an earlier era, it is likely that only low-growing plants or grass were planted in the garden so that the dramatic earthwork would be visible (figure 14). The terraces may have been planted in beds of ornamental flowers, fruits and vegetables, or a combination of all of these. It is difficult to describe dimensions of the terraces and slopes with precision due to their irregular edges and the effects of erosion over the centuries. The general organization of Salubria’s landscape elements is based in a geometry of squares and rectangles (figure 3). The terrace dimensions may reflect the use of a pole measurement (16.5 feet) during construction: the two broader terraces measure approximately 66 feet wide (4 poles), the narrower middle terrace measures approximately 33 feet (2 poles). Further research regarding typical geometrical relationships in eighteenth-century site design may provide a greater understanding of the design and construction of Salubria’s landscape and garden. Views in the falling garden are significantly different today than they were in an earlier era. Today, it is impossible to see from terrace to terrace except at the ends. At one time, a visitor standing on the upper terrace would have been able to look over the entire falling garden, to the adjacent cultivated fields, to the mountains beyond. Today, the encroaching vegetation has restricted the view such that the garden seems more enclosed; the mood of the garden is more introspective than it would be with more open views. The choreography of movement is an important part of any garden design. In the absence of documentation and archaeological research, we do not know how the designer(s) intended people to move through the falling garden at Salubria. There are currently no paths or steps in the falling garden that clearly suggest specific paths of movement. However, by looking at the topography, relationship of house and garden, and through walking it today, we can make conjectures about the way one would have walked in the garden during its earliest period (figure 15).

figure 12. South terrace and boxwood hedge on left, upper terrace of falling garden on right

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PROJECT SCOPE This report is an investigation of the garden and larger landscape at Salubria today and through the centuries. The report aims to illuminate the significance of the house and garden within the context of eighteenth-century Virginia, especially in regards to the falling garden tradition. As a student of landscape architecture, I have approached this investigation through intensive on-site observations, analysis of visual artifacts, and design drawings as well as through written documentation. Although relatively little evidence exists about Salubria in its earliest period, the documents that do exist serve as rich sources for discovery. The short duration of this project resulted in few definitive conclusions about Salubria, but did produce many significant observations and theories. It is my hope that the tools, evidence, observations, sources, and questions here will encourage continued research on the garden and landscape at Salubria.

NOTES1. Ann L. Miller, personal communication, September 13, 2010.

2. Since the topography continues to fall below the garden, some consider the lowest area to be a fourth terrace.

figure 15. The house axis does not align with the main landscape elements (entry road and terraces).

figure 13. Section a-a’ (see plan p7) through falling garden looking north (cottage and house in elevation)

figure 14. Speculation about falling garden during it earliest period: same section without trees and cottage

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path of movement

line from house to center of terrace

house axis

CENTRAL WALK

The slope from the south terrace into the falling garden is somewhat steep, but possible to walk on.

This walk is most aligned with the visual axis. From the house, you can see your path down the center

of the terraces and falls before walking it.

1” = 100’N

CIRCUIT WALK

The slopes at the ends of the terraces are more gentle and therefore easier to walk

on. This walk uses these end slopes to move between the upper and lower terraces.

Here, the visual axes and way of moving are distinct.

ZIG-ZAG WALK

This walk uses the end slopes to move between the upper, middle, and lower

terraces in a zig-zag movement.

Here, the visual axes and way of moving are distinct.

fence

figure 15. Possible ways of walking through Salubria’s falling garden note: lower elevations are darker

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2 SPOTSWOOD, GERMANNA, AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE VIRGINIA FRONTIER

An understanding of the larger regional context in the eighteenth century is crucial for grasping the significance of Salubria as a plantation, estate, and landscape. This chapter will consider how this region experienced profound transformation economically and culturally leading up to the mid-eighteenth century when Salubria was built. At the beginning of the century, colonial settlement in Virginia had not yet extended across the Piedmont. The Tidewater was still the dominant region in Virginia, economically and culturally. Native Americans, living in the Piedmont since at least 3000 B.C.E., continued to inhabit the region during the early eighteenth century1. Thus, the frontier of the Virginia colony at this time was situated in the Piedmont; Europeans had scarcely settled and developed the region and had not yet ventured over the Blue Ridge into the Valley province. Only small-scale settlement and economic production existed at what was then the edge of the colony. In the early eighteenth century, however, European settlers began to transform the frontier economically and culturally through settlement, exploration, agriculture, and industry. The establishment of transportation infrastructure, markets, and government facilitated this transformation. Along with these changes came the emergence of a new class of wealthy planters eager to express their status through cultural symbols including great homes and gardens. Anthropologist and archaeologist Douglas Sanford, who has conducted extensive research in this part of Virginia, describes this as a period of “transition from frontier to plantation society2“. By the middle of the century, the Piedmont had become the dominant region in the Virginia colony3. The ambitions of Alexander Spotswood (1676-1740) played a large role in this regional transformation which is closely related to the origins of Salubria. Having been appointed Lieutenant Governor, Spotswood arrived in Virginia in 17104. During his tenure, Spotswood sought to increase the power of the crown in Virginia while aggressively pursuing his own interests in Williamsburg and beyond. Spotswood undertook numerous architectural projects In the capital that represented the power and cultural authority of the crown in Virginia and by extension, his own power5. More directly related to this study is Spotswood’s development of the frontier region, in particular, his establishment of the Germanna colony in present-day Orange County. The Rappahannock river region drew Spotswood’s attention as an area as yet unclaimed by wealthy Virginia planters, and because iron deposits were found there in 17126. Through his power as Governor, Spotswood granted a tract of 10 square miles to several of his clerks, who then gave it back to him7. Spotswood learned of a group of Germans attempting to immigrate to North Carolina who were stalled in England without funds to complete their journey8. By paying for their passage across the Atlantic, Spotswood purchased their servitude for a period of seven years9. In 1714 they arrived on Spotswood’s land, which he had named Germanna in reference to the German immigrants and to honor the reigning queen, Anne. Spotswood had built a fortified settlement for the immigrants, reflecting its frontier location, thirty miles beyond the nearest settlement10. Spotswood had multiple goals in mind when he established this frontier colony. He intended to dominate the local fur trade11, expand and defend the frontier of the colony12, and increase his own power and wealth through development of agriculture and industry on his landholdings. Over time, Spotswood amassed about 83,000 acres (130 square miles) in the western Piedmont and the Shenandoah Valley, which he designated Spotsylvania County in 1720 13. Throughout his term as Governor, Spotswood continued to develop Germanna by successive waves of settlement,

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by establishing the colony as the seat of government for Spotsylvania County, and by beginning to construct his own palatial residence there. Perhaps the best-known and most colorful example of Spotswood’s actions to expand Virginia’s frontier is the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition of 1716. This expedition was one of the first times (if not the first) that Europeans crossed west of the Blue Ridge into the Shenandoah Valley14. The expedition created an aura of adventure and legend in order to represent the expansion of colonial power and settlement into the Valley province of Virginia. In part due to his ambitions, serious conflicts developed between Spotswood and the crown, and also the Virginia council, leading to his dismissal from office in 172215. His work at the capital finished, Spotswood was likely in permanent residence at his palatial home at Germanna by 172316. During the 1720s Spotswood developed plantations at Germanna18 as well as the Spotsylvania Iron Works, (also called Tubal Ironworks) thirteen miles east of Germanna17. Eventually Spotswood’s holdings included 57 plantations, as well as mills and mines19. Spotswood’s personal life underwent a transformation in 1724 when, on a trip to England for business reasons, he met and married Butler Brayne and they started a family. When they returned to Virginia in 1729, the family lived full-time at their home in Germanna, now known as the Enchanted Castle20. The Enchanted Castle constituted a representation of extreme wealth and cultural authority in what was still a sparsely-settled region of the colony. Although the mansion is no longer standing21, archaeological work discovered that the mansion comprised an elaborate nine-part Palladian plan constructed of fine materials and ornately decorated22. Archaeologist Kerri Barile conducted on-site research at the Enchanted Castle which she synthesized in her dissertation. Barile writes that in constructing such an elaborate Georgian mansion twenty miles from other settlement23, Spotswood sought to establish a unique legacy as well as to promote the frontier as “an area ripe for private prosperity and public growth24.” Beyond its architectural details and material palette, the Enchanted Castle is notable for its site design, garden and other landscape features. In accordance with European principles of estate design, the mansion was sited on a bluff overlooking the Rapidan, commanding a view over the surrounding landscape. The land south of the mansion was shaped into a terrace25; three more terraces were built on the north side. These terraces and other landscape features at the Enchanted Castle were recorded by William Byrd II when he visited the Spotswoods in 1732. Byrd wrote that he and Spotswood “took a turn in the Garden, which has nothing beautiful but 3 Terrace Walks that fall in Slopes one below another26.” He also described a “Walk” farther beyond the house: “the ladys... conducted me thro’ a Shady Lane to the Landing, and by the way made me drink some very fine Water that issues from a Marble Fountain, and ran incessantly. Just behind it was a cover’d Bench27.” This description illustrates that Alexander Spotswood’s design for the Enchanted Castle included a garden as well as landscape features further beyond the house, and that the designed landscape was an important part of the daily lives of the inhabitants of and visitors to the mansion. The passage from Byrd’s journal also suggests the type of garden and landscape with which Lady Spotswood was familiar. At the Enchanted Castle, she lived in a very large and elaborate estate on a commanding site, with three garden terraces and designed walks in the landscape. We do not know whether she played a role in the design of the landscape at the Enchanted Castle, only that she lived there for thirteen years and therefore knew it very well. As Lady Spotswood’s first home as a married woman, and her first home in the colonies, the Enchanted Castle likely made a strong impression on her and may have influenced plans for her second great estate home, Salubria. Despite Spotswood’s sustained efforts, Germanna did not remain an economic and governmental center for long. During the same visit in 1732, Byrd employed an ironic tone to describe how the Germanna community had largely dispersed by that time: “This famous town consists of

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Colonel Spotswood’s enchanted castle on one side of the street, and a baker’s dozen of ruinous tenements on the other, where so many German families had dwelt some years ago; but are now removed ten miles higher in the fork of Rappahannock, to land of their own...28” Also by 1732, the county court was moved from Germanna eastward to Fredericksburg29. A further blow came when Orange County was formed in 1734 and Germanna was no longer part of the county named for Spotswood30. Finally, the town of Orange, and not Germanna, became the seat for the new county31. By the time of Spotswood’s death in 1740, Germanna’s days as an economic and governmental center were over, and the area was once again sparsely inhabited32. This quiet, isolated setting is where the story of Salubria began just a few years later.

NOTES

1. W.W. Scott, A History of Orange County (Richmond: Everett Waddey, 1907), 56.

2. Douglas Sanford, “The Gardens at Germanna, Virginia,” in William M. Kelso and Rachel Most, eds. Earth Patterns: Essays in Landscape Archaeology

(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990), 45.

3. David Hackett Fischer, James C. Kelly, Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000), 101.

4. Ibid., 98.

Although he technically held the office of Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Spotswood is usually referred to as “Governor” to more accurately describe his

involvement in the colony. The nominal governors of the colonies at this time remained in England and had less responsibility.

5. Kerri Barile, “Archaeology, Architecture and Alexander Spotswood: Redefining the Georgian Worldview at the Enchanted Castle, Germanna, Orange County,

Virginia” (PhD diss., University of Texas, 2004), 212.

Spotswood worked on the following buildings in Williamsburg: the colonial Capitol, the Governor’s Palace (and its garden), the Wren Building, Bruton Parish

Church, and the Powder Magazine.

6. Fischer and Kelly, 100.

7. Ibid., 100.

8. Barile, 55.

9. Ibid., 60.


11. M.C. Beaudry, “Excavations at Fort Christianna, Brunswick County, Virginia: The 1979 Season”, (Manuscript, Richmond: Virginia Research Center for

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Archaeology, 1979), quoted in Sanford, 44.

12. Sanford, 43.


14. Scott, 100-102.

15. Barile, 65.

16. Ibid., 229.

17. Ibid., 72.

18. Ibid., 61.


20. Barile, 230.

21. Ibid., vii. The Enchanted Castle was built in 1718 and destroyed by fire in 1750s.

22. Ibid., 90

23. Ibid., 271.

24. Ibid., 277.

25. Sanford, 49.

26. John Spencer Bassett, ed., The Writings of Colonel William Byrd, of Westover in Virginia, Esqr. (New York: Doubleday, Page & co., 1901), 358.

27. Ibid., 361.

28. Ibid., 356.

This passage is the source of the appellation “Enchanted Castle,” which Byrd seems to employ for ironic contrast with its “ruinous” surroundings.

29. Sanford, 46.

30. Barile, 75.

31. Ibid.

32. Ibid., 78.

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3 ORIGINS OF SALUBRIA Salubria was built for the Reverend John Thompson and his wife Lady Butler Brayne Spotswood Thompson. While the Spotswood name and history are well-documented, much less is known about Butler Brayne and her second husband. The origins of their plantation home and garden are still cloudy, although several organizations, scholars, and knowledgeable individuals are currently involved in research that may soon shed new light on the history of Salubria. As the Enchanted Castle can be better understood in the context of Spotswood’s economic, cultural, and regional ambitions, an understanding of John Thompson and his more famous wife will illuminate the significance of Salubria. Documentation relating to the couple includes land records, letters, a will and inventory, parish minutes, and economic details; unfortunately information about their family life, personal pursuits, thoughts, and tastes remain mysterious. Thompson was born in Scotland and received a Master of Arts from the University of Edinburgh. In 1734 he was ordained deacon by the Bishop of Saint David’s at Westminster; the same year he was ordained Priest at the Chapel Royal of Saint James1. In 1740 Thompson became minister of Saint Mark’s Parish. At that time, the parish was in Orange County; from 1749 it was located in newly-formed Culpeper County2. Thompson apparently acted as minister to multiple churches in St.Mark’s parish3. He is most closely associated with the Little Fork Church⁴ and the Great Fork (or Lower) Church⁵, which no longer stands but was located a short distance from the site of Salubria. Oral history suggests that the Spotswood family, residents of Saint Mark’s Parish, attended the Great Fork Church⁶. As minister, Thompson was housed in the parish glebe house on a 200-acre property with associated outbuildings. Thompson would have made income from the rent or planting of the glebe land7. The glebe house, no longer standing8, was located near the Great Fork Church on land that is currently owned by the Madden family9. Thompson’s annual salary as minister was 16,000 pounds of tobacco10 . In addition to his salary and income from the glebe, Thompson made income from planting on land that he amassed over time. By the time of his death in 1772, Thompson was in possession of 7,705 acres and owned more than 40 slaves11, placing him among the most wealthy men in Culpeper County12. Historian Barbara Mooney notes that Thompson’s wealth placed him in a small class of colonial elite, although the wealth of Virginians of this era was small relative to that of the British elite13. Thompson could not have built Salubria, however, without the wealth he gained through marriage to Lady Spotswood in 1742. Lady Spotswood received a large sum after the death of Alexander Spotswood and also owned land in England, income from which devolved to her successive husbands14. While Lady Spotswood obtained a hefty income, her eldest son John inherited the Enchanted Castle along with his father’s other property15. The significant wealth Lady Spotswood brought into her second marriage provided the means, and may have implied the responsibility, for Thompson to build a grand estate as the couple’s new home. In addition to her wealth, Lady Spotswood came into her second marriage with a sensibility and lifestyle shaped during her youth spent in London as well as during her first marriage. As we saw in the previous chapter, during their eleven years together at the Enchanted Castle the Spotswoods inhabited a very large, ornate mansion within an extensive designed landscape. It is possible to infer that Thompson, as Butler Bryane’s

22

second husband, felt a need to reproduce this lifestyle in some degree for his new wife. The house and landscape at Salubria are expressions of John Thompson’s and Butler Brayne Spotswood Thompson’s status as landed gentry. The five-bay, hipped-roof, Georgian house has an elegant dentil cornice, symmetrical tall end chimneys, and boasts some of the finest interior paneling in colonial-era Virginia16. Its design resembles several other great colonial Georgian buildings in Virginia like the Wythe House and Ludwell-Paradise House in Williamsburg, Brooke’s Bank in Essex County and the first phase of Montpelier. Salubria’s brick construction set it apart from its contemporaries in Culpeper County. Salubria was an elegant and well-crafted grand home for the Thompsons. At the time, it was a rare example of Georgian architecture in what was once again a sparsely-settled part of the Piedmont. It was not, however, as ambitious as estates like the Enchanted Castle, Carter’s Grove, or Mount Airy in terms of materials, scale, degree of elaboration, and garden design. Salubria is a more modest version of the grand colonial plantation home. The fact that Thompson was a minister who did not hold any other office may help to explain the more reserved grandeur of Salubria. Among Mooney’s study sample of colonial estate owners, Thompson stands out from his peers who were militia officers, vestrymen, justices of the peace, burgesses, and councilors17. Most of those included in Mooney’s study held at least two of these offices, some held all five. The only other architectural patron in Mooney’s study to hold no office is Sarah Taliaferro Brooke of Brooke’s Bank; in this case her gender forbade any political ambitions. The connection between colonial architectural patrons and office-holding underscores one of the important functions of a great house: it advertised its owners identity as a person of wealth, culture, education, and ambition. While Mooney’s study focused on buildings, the same is true of colonial gardens. Perhaps we can understand the house and garden at Salubria as projecting an appropriately elegant image for the minister and his wife. With a less commanding position in the landscape than great houses like Carter’s Grove or the Enchanted Castle, it seems that Salubria was less directed toward projecting an image of power. If Thompson was receiving visits from parishioners at Salubria, it seems reasonable that his home should be more private and introverted than some other contemporary estates. The great house at Salubria was one piece of a larger plantation complex. In Thompson’s will he describes Salubria as “my Mansion house and Plantation;” the inventory made upon Thompson’s death in 1772 recorded many horses, cattle, and sheep on the property as well as corn, wheat, and barley18. It is not known what crops Thompson planted at Salubria; as the big cash crop of the time, tobacco would have been a likely choice. As stated above, Thompson’s inventory showed that he owned many slaves, some of whom must have labored at Salubria. The location of outbuildings and slave quarters during this era is also entirely undocumented, although structures standing in the nineteenth century may have replaced earlier ones on the same location. At the time of this writing, we do not know for certain where John Thompson and Butler Brayne Spotswood Thompson were living while Salubria was under construction. One theory contends that the couple was living at the glebe, another, that they stayed at the Enchanted Castle. Historian Eugene Scheel suggests that the couple was living at the glebe, since an addition was built to that house the same year that the Thompson’s daughter Ann was born19. This conclusion would seem to require more corroborating evidence. Those who believe that the couple lived at the Enchanted Castle point to an undated letter from Thompson to his father in Ireland, announcing his marriage. Thompson writes: “We all live together in ye mansion house, being in my Parish & shall I believe till ye heir comes to age

23

who was 17 last Christmas20.” The word “mansion” did not have the same connotation of lavishness at that time as it does today21; it could have been used to describe the modest glebe house just as easily as the ornate Enchanted Castle. However, it seems more likely that Thompson was referring here to the Enchanted Castle when we consider that it would have been redundant to specify that the glebe was in his parish. The way Thompson acquired the property on which Salubria was built is somewhat mysterious. Historian Barbara Mooney asserts that Thompson purchased this property in 1752 from a landowner named John Quarles22. It is more commonly believed that the land was purchased from the Spotswood’s eldest son John, who inherited his father’s land. When his father died in 1740, John was a minor at 15 years of age, and so would not have immediately inherited his father’s property until he became a legal adult. In 1743, one year after his mother remarries, John was still a minor at age 18. His father’s executors, acting on his behalf, leased 200 acres of land to Thompson for 1,000 pounds of tobacco and 250 pounds sterling (half of Butler’s annuity)23. In 1745, when John was 18, the executors leased another 200 acres to Thompson for another 1,000 pounds of tobacco24. Apparently, these leases were not satisfactory for one or more of the parties involved, and the arrangement was renegotiated, resulting in a new lease in 1751 between himself, his mother, and Thompson. This document describes in detail each of the two tracts, of 230 and 163 acres, totaling 393 acres. Based on the property descriptions given here, Will Rieley drew the boundaries of these tracts of land. The results were inconclusive in terms of making a “match” with the boundary of the Salubria property. However, the size of the 1751 lease (393 acres) closely matches the acreage that Thompson leaves to his second wife: “my Mansion house and Plantation containing 390 acres25.” It will require further research to determine definitively whether Thompson and Lady Spotswood acquired the Salubria land from John Spotswood. As of this writing, there is no known documentation relating to the original design and planning of Salubria. While the great house itself has changed relatively little, the outbuildings, garden, and larger landscape were, by nature, much more ephemeral. This quality renders them more difficult to interpret, so we must rely on close observation, knowledge of history, and appropriate comparisons in order to make informed speculations. In the absence of letters, drawings, contemporary descriptions, or archaeological research, we cannot say definitively that the terraced gardens were original to Salubria. However, we know that Thompson owned the labor force necessary to carry out large-scale earthwork (and that Salubria’s succeeding owners probably did not). It seems likely that, barring any unusual circumstances, earthwork would have been carried out for the garden at the same time as the house was constructed. The falling garden was a status symbol strongly associated with Virginia plantations, and may have appealed to Thompson as he constructed his grand house. It was also a garden type that Lady Spotswood knew well from her time at the Enchanted Castle. Furthermore, falling gardens were very popular in the nearby town of Fredericksburg in the mid- to late-eighteenth century. Sarudy writes: ”In fact, terraced falls were so admired in Fredericksburg, that in 1777 eight lots were for sale with the notation that four were already ‘well improved with a good falling garden.’ In 1980 another Fredericksburg newspaper advertisement touted ‘a good dwelling house with every conveniencey that a family can wish for... a falling garden26.’” For all of these reasons, it is probable that the falling gardens were original to the house at Salubria27. Dendrochronological analysis28 suggests that the house was built in the late 1750s, so Lady Spotswood could only have lived at Salubria for a short time, if at all. While it seems that the elegance of the house and garden were closely related to Lady Spotswood’s connection to the property,

24

it is possible that she was not able to enjoy Salubria for very long before her death in 175829. After the death of Butler Brayne, Thompson continued to live at Salubria. He re-married in 1760 to Elizabeth Rootes and left Salubria to her when he died in 1772. Oral history suggests that Thompson and Lady Spotswood were both buried at Salubria30, but to date this assertion is unsubstantiated.

NOTES

1. Mary Jo Browning, “History of Little Fork Episcopal Church, 1730-1986,” in Arthur Dicken Thomas and Angus McDonald Green, eds. Early Churches of Culpeper

County, Virginia: Colonial and Ante-bellum Congregations (Culpeper, VA: The Culpeper Historical Society, 1987), 16.

2. Rosalie Davis website, http://www.angelfire.com/va3/redavis/

3. Raleigh Travers Green and Philip Slaughter, Genealogical and Historical Notes On Culpeper, County, Virginia: Embracing a Revised and Enlarged Edition of Philip

Slaughter’s History of St. Mark’s Parish (Baltimore: Southern Book Company, 1958), 6. Lay readers or “clerks” served in the absence of regular ministers. Saint

Mark’s vestry minutes, 1757, quoted in Green and Slaughter, 14. Mr. Thompson, minister; and James Pendleton, Clerk (Lay Reader) of Little Fork Church present

at meeting.

4. http://www.angelfire.com/va3/redavis/. “Little fork” refers to the location between the Rappahannock and Hazel Rivers.

Little Fork Church website, http://www.littleforkchurch.net/. The current Little Fork Church, at the site of the original, is located at 16461 Oak Shade Road,

Rixeyville VA. The church is 16.7 miles on existing roads to Salubria.

5. Scheel, A Virginia County’s History, 42. The Saint Mark’s vestry minutes from 1732 record the order for the Great Fork or Lower Church to be built on

Germanna Road “above Mr. Finlason’s path.”

6. Green and Slaughter, 7.

Saint Mark’s Vestry Minutes, March 10, 1741: “the Church Wardens wait on Mrs. Spotswood and return her thanks for the present she made of a velvet pulpit

cloath and cushion to the Church of Saint Mark Parish.”

7 . Browning, 16.

8. Scheel, 16. Text notes that “ the original glebe-house was burned” but does not provide a date or source for this information.

9. T. O Madden and Ann L Miller, We Were Always Free : the Maddens of Culpeper County, Virginia : a 200-year Family History, 1st University of Virginia Press ed.

(Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2005), 139. The church was no longer standing around the time of the Civil War.

10. Scheel, 42.

25

11. Mooney, 113, John Thompson inventory, 1772: Culpeper County Will Book B, p83.

Thompson’s inventory names his slaves, 46 by my count (Mooney notes 39 on p112, Scheel notes 50 slaves on p116).

According to Scheel A Virginia County’s History, 31, Thompson received the first land grant from Lord Fairfax in the newly-formed Culpeper County (so, apparently

in 1748), totaling 800 acres.

12. Scheel, A Virginia County’s History, 37. In 1764, John Thompson was the third-largest landowner in the county with 7,653 acres.

13. Barbara Burlison Mooney, Prodigy Houses of Virginia (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008), 115.

14. Mooney, 128 and 326; also John Spotswood lease to Rev. John Thompson, 1751: Culpeper County Deed Book A, 400.

15. Barile, 79. John Spotswood apparently lived at least part time at the Enchanted Castle until his marriage in 1745.

16. Calder Loth, The Virginia Landmarks Register, 4th ed (Charlottesville: Published for the Virginia Deptartment of Historic Resources by the University Press of

Virginia, 1999), 133.

17. Mooney, 263.

18. John Thompson will, 1772: Culpeper County Will Book B, p75. John Thompson inventory, 1772: Culpeper County Will Book B, p83

19. Scheel, A Virginia County’s History, 42. Green, 17. John Thompson and Butler Brayne Spotswood Thompson also had a son, William, birthdate unknown.

20. John Thompson to his Father, undated, Virginia Historical Society Mss1 Sp687 a 5. “The heir” refers to Alexander’s son John Spotswood, born in 1725, which

would date the letter at 1742 (they were married in November of that year) or 1743.

21. Will Rieley, personal communication.

22. Mooney, 113, referencing deed from John Quarles to Rev. John Thompson, 1752: Culpeper County Deed Book A, p423

23. Deed from Executors of the Estate of Alexander Spotswood to John Thompson, 1743: Orange County.

24. Deed from Executors of the Estate of Alexander Spotswood to John Thompson, 1745: Orange County.

25. John Thompson will, 1772: Culpeper County Will Book B, p75

26. Sarudy 31, quoting from the Virginia Gazette May 2, 1777 and Feb 5, 1780

27. Green, 17. It is also interesting to note that the Thompson’s daughter Ann later married Francis Thornton of Fall Hill, a Fredericksburg estate with a falling

garden. William Thompson later married Sallie Carter (of Cleve); the Carter family was also associated with falling gardens.

28. The Germanna Foundation had a denchronology analysis performed in 2010 by Dr. Dan Miles. The results show that the beams framing the attic and

basement were made from trees cut down circa 1756.

29. The location of Lady Spotswood’s grave is unknown. The most complete information about her death comes from Peyton F. Carter III, Who Was Richard

Brayne? (Salem, MA: Higginson Book Co., 2002). Carter transcribes her epitaph:

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Here lyeth Interred the Remains of Mrs. Butler Thompson of the Parish of St. Mark & County of Culpeper who departed this Life the 13th day of Sept. 1758 in the

45th year of her age-

Epitaph

Beneath this lies the best of Womankind,

Who raised the Spirits and was most Divine

Made pale Dejection, take a pleasant Air

& Calmed the Rougher Passions of despair-

What Social Virtues shall we most commend

The Tendrest parent or the Dearest Friend-

& thence in Mournful Strains her life deplores

give loose to Grief till we can Weep no more-

The source provided for the epitaph is: Jennifer Thorp, Archivist to the Highclere Estates, Highclere Castle, Newbury, Berkshire, England; Highclere Castle Archive,

Box E, L No. 1, “Copy of Alexander Spotswood’s Letter of Attorney.”

30. John Herndon collection of genealogical data on Virginia and New England families, Hansbrough Family Genealogy, Vol II, manuscript, 1900-1952. MSS 4107,

Box 101, folder No. 24, Part III “Salubria,” Special Collections, University of Virginia Library.

27

4 SALUBRIA'S GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE OVER TIMENote: unless otherwise indicated, information from Leta Scherquist was obtained during a personal interview 8/11/10, information from Leslie Grayson was obtained during personal interviews 6/11/2010 and 8/9/2010.

Over two centuries have passed since the Thompsons inhabited Salubria. With the passage of time, fences, roads and paths, outbuildings, trees and other plants original to Salubria have likely all disappeared and been replaced many times (figure 24-25, 27). Even the slopes and terraces in the falling garden have changed shape over time due to erosion. The boundaries and acreage of the property have also changed over time (figure 16). Over the course of its history, only three other families have owned the property (see appendix A). As with the Thompson era, there is little documentation about the garden and larger landscape at Salubria during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Existing photographs, inventories, wills, and oral history suggest that the families who owned Salubria worked to maintain the falling garden and continued to farm the property to varying degrees. While successive owners of Salubria tended to choose maintenance over new interventions in the garden, two major changes over the years altered the symbolic meaning and then the physical form of the garden. The first change occured in the nineteenth century with the establishment of a Grayson family graveyard on the middle terrace of the falling garden. The second transformation came during the twentieth century with the implementation of Alden Hopkins’ design for the boxwood hedge and tree plantings (see chapter 5).

figure 16. Traced diagrams of Salubria property boundaries over time

1865 Grayson partition, survey by Albert Tutt

451 acres

1942 survey by Boldridge

200.75 acres

2010tax map

232 acres (Blue Ridge Farm, Inc) 19.5 acres (Germanna Foundation)

BRAN

CH

ICEPOND

AREA 200.75 ACRES

Main Road 106

106 1/2

40 40

17 ATimberTo house Lot

R.O. Grayson’s Lot

300 Acres

J.C. Grayson’s Lot

134 Acres

Stone White oak

28

figure 17. Undated photo of Salubria from the northwest showing outbuildings west of the house

collection of Leta Scherquist

OUTBUILDINGS When Salubria was first built, a complex of outbuildings would have been required to support the activity and labor of John Thompson's plantation. Since Thompson's time, Salubria has continued to be a working landscape to varying degrees, with the land around the house planted with crops or used for grazing. Although no outbuildings remain today, at one time Salubria had a barn, stable, corn house1, ice house, meat houses and slaves’ or servants’ quarters2. Clues about the location as well as the use of several nineteenth-century outbuildings at Salubria appear in the 1866 deed of partition between Robert O. Grayson and John C. Grayson gives (figure 16). The deed describes a "barn, stable, and corn house standing on the other moiety just beyond the dividing line" between property of Robert O. Grayson and that of John C. Grayson3. Information about Salubria’s outbuildings is also included in John Herndon's manuscript "Hansbrough family history," which describes Salubria in detail, based on oral history, research, and personal visits in 1913 and 1933 (during the ownerships of John C. Grayson Jr, and Georgie Grayson; and Nannie Fry, respectively). He describes the outbuildings as follows : A short distance from the house are the customary outbuildings-2 meat houses, one in the back yard, the other outside the yard between the house and barn; a barn, stable, etc. The servant's quarters were located on a little rise back of the house but these are not now standing. To the southwest and close to the house is the old well, and a great ice house which would hold approximately forty tons, which in the old days was said never to be empty, but this, too, has recently fallen into ruin4.

Six outbuildings are visible in an undated photo of the house and ground from the northwest (figure 17). Based on the sparse vegetation

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and outbuildings present, this photo was taken sometime in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, which would be near the time of Herndon's visits. The outbuildings in this photo may include the meat houses, barn, and stable mentioned in Herndon's account. John Herndon photographed the ice house during his visit in 1933 (figure 18). Today, the location of the former ice house is visible as a depression off the southwest corner of the house. Ice stored here was likely gathered from the ice pond in the southeast quadrant of the property, shown in the 1942 Boldridge survey of Salubria5. At one time, the area directly around the house was used for raising small animals, based on several photos that show coops and fences around the house. A 1933 Herndon photograph of the house from the southwest (figure 19) shows what appears to be a chicken coop southwest of the house. An undated photo shows two small coop-like structures south of the house, one obscured by shrubs (figure 20). One undated photo (figure 21) and one Herndon photo (figure 22) show fenced areas in the front and back of the house, respectively. A more recent color photo shows the house and some outbuildings from the southwest (figure 23). The barn here was an all-purpose storage barn6 standing in the 1940s through the early 1980s7. The photo also shows a cylindrical metal grain storage structure, like a short silo. The grain was for cattle feed. The former well, now a wood platform topped with a pump, is still visible southwest of the house. Leslie Grayson remembers that the well still worked in the 1960s. Leta Scherquist remembers an "old shed" on the ridge west of the home site, approximately west of the modern-day cottage, that she

figure 18. Ice house at Salubria. Photo by John Herndon, 1933. figure 19. South side of Salubria, coop at left. Photo by John Herndon, 1933.

Special Collections University of Virginia Library


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believes may have been slave quarters. She recalls that her brother, Thom Fitzhugh, told her that there was a slave cemetery next to the shed. These photos also show a small wing on the east side of the house, apparently clad in weatherboard with a metal roof. This structure, used as a kitchen, was removed as part of structural repairs to house 1950s8. A pile of stones from the structure persists just east of the site, and the shadow of the structure can still be read on the east exterior wall of the house. Interestingly, the shadow of the roof line overlaps a second story window. The amount of stone rubble, the oddly overlapping roof, and the delay between Thompson and Lady Spotswood's marriage and the construction of the large house suggests that this small structure may have predated the larger house9. This structure may have served as a "claim house" that landowners were required to build during colonial times in order to legally claim a property. The cottage on the upper garden terrace was built in the 1990s by J. Gordon Grayson and Laura May Grayson so that they and other family members could stay at Salubria10.

SALUBRIA DURING THE CIVIL WAR During the Civil War, Salubria was owned by Robert O. Grayson, who left his home to fight. Significant Civil War action occurred near Salubria in Culpeper, Brandy Station, Stevensburg, and Hansbrough’s Ridge. The fighting may have come closest to Salubria in the summer of 1863 when the Battle of Brandy Station crossed nearby, if not across, the Salubria property11. During the winter encampment of 1863-1864, Salubria was the headquarters of Brigadier General Henry Eugene Davies, commander of the 3rd Calvary Division, Army of the Potomac12. In early spring of 1864, the newly appointed commander of the 3rd Cavalry Division, Brigadier General

figure 21. Undated photo of Salubria from the north. Note “kitchen wing” at left, and fence at right.


figure 20. Undated photo of Salubria from the south. Note one coop structure in shrubs at left, and another at right.

collection of Leslie Grayson

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James Harrison Wilson, took over headquarters at Salubria. He departed with his division on May 4, 1864. A few sources indicate that Salubria was sometimes called “the fort” during the Civil War14.

GRAVES The major symbolic change to the garden at Salubria occurred when the Grayson family established a graveyard on the middle terrace in the late nineteenth century. Dr. John Cooke Grayson (1832-1895), his wife Lena Pettus Grayson (1836-1879), and their infant daughter Sarah ‘Sallie’ Mason Grayson (born and died 1875) are buried at the end of the terrace farthest from the house. The graves are marked by a single tall headstone monument in the center of the terrace and three small footstones along the terrace edge. With the creation of the graveyard, the garden became a place of memory and reverence. In addition to this symbolic change, the graveyard also affected the visual perception of the house and garden. Since the middle terrace is roughly on line with the house, the placement of the tall monument at its terminus suggested an alignment with the house axis. However, the terrace (and monument) is actually askew from this axis. This garden “problem” was taken on by Alden Hopkins in his landscape plan for Salubria in 1955-1956 (see chapter 5). The Hansbrough family, who owned Salubria directly prior to the Graysons, also created a family graveyard on a high point northeast of the house (see plan p7, and appendix B). Members of the Hansbrough and WIgginton-Jones families (related by marriage) were buried here during the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries15.

figure 22. Undated photo of Salubria from the south. Note “kitchen wing” and fencing at right. Photo by John Herndon.

figure 23. Undated photo of Salubria from the south. Note storage barn and metal grain storage structure at left.



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FARMING When Alice Gertrude Grayson and her second husband George Harrison acquired Salubria in 1942 the farm at Salubria had been idle and abandoned. The garden, too, was probably overgrown and neglected at that time. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Harrisons undertook efforts to reclaim the land and house. They reinitiated farming operations at Salubria, establishing a partnership with Pembroke Thom (PT) Fitzhugh for keeping the cattle. The Harrisons had a tenant house built on the north grounds of Salubria in 1950 to house a farmer on-site; this house is currently occupied by Leta Scherquist and her husband Dick16. In addition to the cattle operation, some hay and corn were planted at this time. Farming has continued, but on a lease basis, at Salubria up to the present.

MAINTAINING THE FALLING GARDEN The affection that the Grayson family holds for Salubria is illustrated by Leslie Grayson's earliest memory of it, as a child in the late 1960s. Her Uncle Gordon wanted the family to have a Christmas tree from Salubria. For several years, the family would search for a field cedar at Salubria of the right height, which they would saw down and bring back to their farm in Upperville. The three Grayson brothers and their children would celebrate Christmas together. Their fondness and respect for Salubria was evident in their stewardship of the property. During the Grayson era, there were few major efforts to create anew in the landscape and garden at Salubria, they rather worked to maintain existing features from disappearing. The main effort was to preserve the terraces by mowing them. It was more difficult to keep vegetation off the slopes because they could not be mowed with a regular lawn mower. Leslie Grayson remembers tree of heaven and locusts

figure 24. Mr H.P. Walton, stepson of Dr. John Cooke Grayson visits Salubria in 1933. Note the stones, apparently a mounting block, which persist today in the north yard; the gate and fence have since shifted position.

figure 25. North side of house, 2010. Note the mounting block is well within the current fence.


33

growing on the terraces and her uncle Gordon's efforts to remove them. Gordon Grayson planted daylilies on the slopes to try to prevent tree growth. In Leslie's lifetime, the trees on the slopes have grown up a lot. Leslie remembers that the lowest terrace had several large locusts that her Uncle had removed in an effort to preserve the terrace. During the Grayson era, the terraces were always conceived as swathes of grass. There were never plans to plant on the terraces, partly because of the graves on the middle terrace. The only planting that Leslie remembers here were the classic orange daylilies that her Uncle Gordon selected to try to prevent trees from encroaching on the slopes. He chose daylilies because they were easy and self-maintaining. Beyond the terraces, Leslie does not recall other gardening (food or ornamental) at Salubria. The Graysons' efforts focused on maintenance; the luxury of small-scale gardening was not available to them. Leta Scherquist remembers that during her childhood (1950s-1960s) there was a row of lilacs in alternating colors on the fall below the first terrace (Leslie, however, does not recall any lilacs at either the front or back of the house). There was a swing in the walnut tree at the end of the top terrace. The middle terrace was so densely grown, that it was difficult to walk on it. When Leta (with her husband Dick) returned to live at Salubria with in 1987, the third terrace hadn't been mowed in a long time. From 1987 on, a few lilacs remained on the first fall. In the past few decades, some new plantings in the falling garden (a small existing magnolia, non-surviving peonies) were stunted or killed due to the walnuts' root poison. There were no steps or paths in the garden during Leslie's recollection, only turf. One would walk to either end of a terrace in order to get to the next terrace. One did not cross in the middle. Part of the reason for keeping the terraces mowed and clear was so that the family could visit the graves on the middle terrace. Due to the graves, the terraces had a ceremonial character and were not places for socializing or entertaining. As kids, they knew that the terraces were a place for a reflective walk, and not for screaming and laughing. In addition to the establishment of the graveyard, the Grayson family initiated a second major change to the garden when Alice Gertrude Grayson and her second husband George Harrison hired landscape architect Alden Hopkins to develop a garden plan. Hopkins’ designs for tree planting and a boxwood hedge created greater definition to the various garden spaces, increased symmetry, and significantly changed views and movement between the house and falling garden. Hopkins' work at Salubria will be discussed in further detail in chapter 5. In addition to these major changes during the Grayson era, Gordon Grayson planted some trees at Salubria. Some of trees existing at Salubria today were planted by him, including a yellowwood in front. For the most part, Gordon tried to honor Hopkins' plan. Over time, the fields surrounding Salubria have become progressively more wooded, dramatically increasing the degree of enclosure and transforming the views from the house and garden to the landscape beyond (figures 26-27). A 1937 aerial photo shows that views from the falling garden were then open to the south and west; today only the west view is open. Given the importance of views in the design of falling gardens (see chapter 6), it is possible that during its earliest period one could look out from the garden over rolling fields to the east, west, and south. The experience of the garden today, partially surrounded by woods, is quite different.

34

National A

rchives

USD

A aerial photo, Special Collections U

niversity of Virginia Library

1958 increase in wooded patches1937 house and garden surrounded by fields, pasture

NTS

figure 26. Decreasing agricultural land, increasing woodland: aerial photos of Salubria over time

N

35

Farm Service A

dministration , Culpeper Soil and W

ater Conservation District

google

1976 little apparent change from 1958 photo 2010 greater canopy cover around house and in eastern half of property

NTS

N

36

1937 House and outbuildings surrounded by few trees and fields

2010 House surrounded by woods and pasture

road / pathfield edgebuildingarea (unknown use)trees

road / pathfencebuildingarea (unknown use)trees

figure 27. An evolving landscape: a comparison of information in aerial photos of Salubria

note: elements here were inferred from observation of aerial image

1” = 200’N

1” = 200’N

37

1937-2010 Outbuildings disapppear, roads shift

1937-2010 Significant increase in vegetation around the house and garden

2010

road / path

road / pathfencebuilding

building

1927

area (unknown use)

2010

1927

road / pathbuildingtrees

trees

1” = 200’N

1” = 200’N

38

SALUBRIA TODAY The late Laura May Grayson donated the house and 19.5 acres to The Germanna Foundation in 2001. Dedicated to preservng the heritage of the earliest organized settlements of Germans in colonial Virginia17, the Foundation recognizes that Salubria is a place of significant regional colonial heritage. The Germanna Foundation is actively enlisting the expertise of scholars and practitioners in order to best interpret and preserve Salubria. Efforts to educate the public about Salubria and its history include newspaper articles, files at the Germanna Visitor Center, and tours by appointment.

NOTES

1. The 1866 deed of partition between Robert O. Grayson and that of John C. Grayson describes the "barn, stable, and corn house standing on the other moiety just beyond the dividing line." See Albert Tutt survey showing the boundary line.

2. Herndon, 147: "A short distance from the house are the customary outbuildings-2 meat houses, one in the back yard, the other outside the yard between the house and barn; a barn, stable, etc. The servant's quarters were located on a little rise back of the house but these are not now standing. To the southwest and close to the house is the old well, and a great ice house which would hold approximately forty tons, which in the old days was said never to be empty, but this, too, has recently fallen into ruin".

3. 1866 deed. See Albert Tutt survey showing the boundary line.

4. Herndon, 147.

5. Boldridge Survey included in deed from Maria Julia Grayson to George Harrison, Culpeper County, 1942.

6. Leslie Grayson, interview by author, August 9, 2010.

7. Leta Scherquist, interview by author, August 11, 2010.

8. Nancy Kraus, personal communication, Mary 19, 2010, referencing letter of architect Washington Reed, November 15, 1955, at the Department of Historic Resources in Richmond, Virginia.

9. Architectural historian Nancy Kraus originated this theory.

10. Leslie Grayson, e-mail message to author, Sept 20, 2010.

11. Eugene M. Scheel, “Culpeper County Historic Sites: The Historic Site Survey and Archaeological Reconnaissance of Culpeper County Virginia,” manuscript prepared for the County of Culpeper, November 1992-April 1994. Copy in binder in the Culpeper County Library.

12. Clark B. Hall, e-mail message to author, Aug 31, 2010.

13. Clark B. Hall, e-mail message to author, Aug 31, 2010; citing Morris Schaff, The Battle of the Wilderness (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1910), 54; and James Harrison Wilson, Under the Old Flag: Recollections of Military Operations In the War for the Union, the Spanish War, the Boxer Rebellion, Etc., and James Harrison Wilson (New York: D. Appleton and company, 1912).

14. Clark B. Hall, e-mail message to author, Aug 31, 2010; citing written account by a 20th Massachusetts Infantry soldier published in National Tribune, October 23, 1890.

15. Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, Report on the Salubria Community Cemetery (March 2007, for the Germanna Foundation).

16. Leslie Grayson, e-mail message to author, Sept 20, 2010.

17. The Germanna Foundation website, Misson Statement, http://www.germanna.org/missionstatement, (September 2010).

39

5 ALDEN HOPKINS AT SALUBRIA: INTERPRETING A COLONIAL GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE

In 1955, owners Alice Gertrude Harrison (formerly Grayson) and George L. Harrison hired landscape architect Alden Hopkins, initiating the most extensive changes to the design of the garden at Salubria. Intervening in a domestic landscape that had seen little recent maintenance (figures 20 and 29), Hopkins’ design established greater formal organization in the garden and house site. In addition to working with Hopkins, the Harrisons undertook significant efforts to restore the house during their ownership of Salubria (1942-1995) with the intention of eventually living in it. They hired architect Washington Reed Jr. of Warrenton, Virginia, who restored structural stability to the house through underpinning. Despite these successes, Mr. Harrison's declining health did not allow them to fully achieve their goals and they never inhabited the house. When the Harrisons hired him, Hopkins was the resident landscape architect at Colonial Williamsburg and the primary consultant for the Garden Club of Virginia1. Hopkins’ best-known work (and largest commission) was the design of the Pavilion Gardens at the University of Virginia (UVA), which he began in 19482. For Williamsburg, UVA, and private clients, Hopkins designed “Colonial Revival” gardens that were based in knowledge of colonial gardens as a whole; these designs did not restore specific historic gardens. When Hopkins died of a stroke in 19603, he had worked on more than 140 projects4; his drawings for Salubria are numbered 83. Hopkins' correspondence and drawings related to Salubria give clues as to how he read and interpreted the existing landscape features and their organization. In a letter to Mrs. Harrison on June 4th, 1955, Hopkins gave names to the various spaces surrounding the house that suggested

figure 28. The boxwood hedge at Salubria, designed by Alden Hopkins, as it appears today.

40

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)

Common Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Common locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Apple (Malus sp.)

Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)

Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)

Lilac (Syringa sp.)

Mulberry (Morus sp.)

Catalpa (Catalpa sp.)

American Elm (Ulmus americana )

Carolina Poplar (Populus x canadensis)

Common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)

Pear (Pyrus sp.)

N

1” = 100’

how he understood their function. He described the terrace immediately to the south of the house as "the oval lawn," suggesting that this area was planted only in turf, like the bowling greens typical to colonial estates. He referred to the terraces as "the garden;" although they were not planted or tended as a garden at the time, Hopkins likely drew from his knowledge of the falling garden tradition. Between the oval lawn and the garden, Hopkins described a "lane," suggesting that this was a place for walking. This is significant because it suggests that Hopkins understood that the main axis from the house to the garden was primarily visual, that is, one would look out to the gardens along this axis. Movement in the garden, however, was off-axis, descending down the "lane" or grass ramp into the lower terraces. Hopkins' reading of the landforms at Salubria was sometimes carefully observed; at other times he erred perhaps due to lack of time spent on-site. In the tree layout plan, Hopkins recorded the topography in the landscape to the north (front) of the house, drawing it as a rectangular level area above a slope. This representation may have over-regularized the subtle topographical changes5, but it still reveals careful observation and interpretation of the landform. He labeled this area "Lawn Terrace" suggesting that he thought the area in front of the house had been graded to form a terrace, a common practice for European and colonial estates.

figure 29. Salubria, Existing Condition March 1956 based on Hopkins drawing

old

road

terracing

terracing

41

Hopkins noted on the drawing an “Old Road” east of the house, which seems to align with a new road Hopkins proposes as well as the slope below the lower terrace. It is likely that this old road was pointed out to Hopkins and that he used it as a reference point for the proposed road. Based on this drawing it is possible to infer that at the time of Hopkins’ intervention the landscape immediately surrounding the house had no clear planted forms or spatial organization (figure 29). Redcedars and locusts loosely lined the edge of the lawn terrace to the north (front) of the house. A pair of catalpa trees, although not strictly symmetrical with the house axis, frame the north facade. Lilacs mark the edge of a lawn terrace directly in front of the house, from which the ground slopes down. It is unclear, however, that these lilacs existed as Hopkins drew them, as neither Leslie Grayson nor Leta Scherquist recall lilacs there. There was even less structured planting to the south of the house: a few lilacs lined the upper fall and Hopkins noted two fruit trees on the lowest fall. Otherwise, walnuts and locusts seem to have been encroaching on the slopes. Hopkins was asked to develop a landscape plan that would address issues of alignment and grade change and to restore organization to the planting scheme. Hopkins’ letter to Mrs. Harrison on June 4th, 1955 suggests that he was charged with addressing “ the change in direction of axis as well as the drop off in grade at the south east corner of the area.” The “change in direction of axis” describes the discrepancy between the main axis of the house and that of the middle (second) garden terrace where several Grayson family graves are located. The lack of alignment of these two axes is somewhat unusual for an early American garden, which typically would have employed more precise geometrical organization. (The establishment of the Grayson graveyard on the second terrace in the late nineteenth century suggests an axial relationship with the house, but may have inadvertently emphasized the lack of axial alignment). In any case, it seems that Grayson considered this a problem needing to be solved. The “drop off in grade” that Hopkins mentioned refers to the slope from the south lawn of the house to the third terrace which is steep enough to pose a hazard. Hopkins’ design solution, in consultation with Mrs. Harrison, was the creation of a boxwood oval enclosing the terrace immediately south of the house (figure 30 and appendix C). In the same letter, he carefully describes his intention for the form of the boxwood oval, illustrated visually in the enclosed plan and elevation drawings: “I have called for the greater mass of boxwood, the higher and broader groupings at the

figure 30. Hopkins proposed an asymmetrical boxwood hedge to draw the eye to the Grayson headstone and to de-emphasize the house axis, which does not align with the middle terrace. Note asymmetry of hedge compared to a regular grid.

headstone

actual relationship of house to headstone

Hopkins’ line from house to headstone

Hopkins’ line for house axis

N

1” = 60’

42

figure 31. Alden Hopkins Site Plan for Salubria, March 24, 1956

Establishment of bilateral symmetry, creation of boxwood oval

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Existing plants

Proposed, species not indicated




Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Willow Oak (Quercus phellos)



N

1” = 100’

four ends of the semi-circles. This will strengthen the openings as well as show off the larger box to better advantage... In between I have placed medium plants working down to a short stretch of low plants, then up again to the large group at the end. In this manner there will be variety in outline as well as an opportunity to use some small material... At the opening in the garden terraces, I have used a stretch of low box which will ultimately be kept clipped in hedge form. This gives a frame, separates the garden and lane from the oval lawn and draws the eye to the change in axis overlooking the garden toward the

graveyard. These plants can be the smallest.”

The oval boxwood hedge increased separation (intentionally or not) between the south of the house and the falling garden: one must now move through the openings in the boxwood hedge in order to reach the garden. The central opening in the hedge became the privileged point from which to look over the falling garden, and perhaps to enter it by way of the middle terrace. Hopkins described the boxwood here as “a frame” that “draws the eye to the change in axis overlooking the garden toward the graveyard9.” This point on the axis from the house to the Grayson graves took on increased significance through Alden Hopkin’s plan. In addition to the plan for the boxwood oval, Hopkins prepared a site-scale plan for Salubria in March and April 1956 (figures 31-32 and appendix D) that proposed symmetrical tree planting and a new circulation system. Hopkins' plans created strong axial

pro

po

sed p

arking

proposed road

lawn terrace

oval lawn

wire fence

43

2 Tulip Trees

2 White Pinesreplaced some Redcedars

2 Goldenraintrees

2 Southern Magnolias

2 Flowering Dogwoods





White Pine (Pinus virginiana)



Goldenraintree (Koelreuteria paniculata)


Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)


Existing plants

figure 32. Alden Hopkins Site Plan for Salubria , Revised April 26, 1956

Increased bilateral symmetry and species diversity, more flowering trees, magnolias mark falling garden slopes

N

1” = 100’

old

road

proposed road

lawn terrace

oval lawn

wire fence wire fence

44

space shaped by plants

possible path of movement

axisN

1” = 100’

N

1” = 100’

figure 33. Comparison of site structure before and after Hopkins plan, 1956

(right) Hopkins Proposal 1956Strong axial symmetry

Hopkins proposed tree and shrub planting created a strong axial symmetry in the landscape surrounding the house.

Oval plantings to the north and south frame the axis of the house. The oval boxwood hedge increases separation (intentionally or not) between the south of the house and the falling garden. The oval hedge encourages movement

from the house into the falling garden by way of the central terrace.

(left) Existing Condition 1956Framed house, suggestion of axis

North facade (approach) of house framed by lilac hedges and symmetrical tree plantings, suggesting an axial organization to the front of the house. The south facade of the house and adjacent terrace look out over the falling garden. Movement from the house through the falling garden may have been off-axis, starting at the highest terrace and proceeding to the lowest.

45

symmetry in the landscape surrounding the house, where previously there was little symmetrical or axial organization (figure 33). Perhaps building on the shape of the boxwood planting, Hopkins proposed oval plantings of trees to the north and south of the house, framing the axis of the house. Although he did not refer to it in his correspondence with Mrs. Harrison, it seems that Hopkins was also proposing a change to the layout of the road leading up to the house. Neither Leslie Grayson nor Leta Scherquist recall a road that split in front of the house into east and west branches like the one that Hopkins drew. It is unclear from his drawing where exactly these roads end, which suggests that this was a concept but not a definite proposal. This road arrangement would have reinforced the axial site organization that Hopkins established with the planting plan. Hopkins did discuss with Grayson the creation of a parking area, included in his drawing but apparently never installed6. Interestingly, Hopkins' design for Salubria does not include a proposal for the most striking part of the landscape, the falling garden itself. He did discuss this area with Grayson, and noted in his correspondence an intention to pursue a plan for it7: "The terraces, from a landscape design viewpoint, are outstanding and I am sure we can plan a simple but well thoughtout (sic) design for them." It is unclear why they did not follow through with a design for the falling garden, although this certainly would have required a great investment of time and resources, while there was also important and costly work being performed on the house. The boxwood oval was planted in the summer of 19558 and the trees were planted in late April of 1956. According to the correspondence, most of the trees survived10.

Today, Hopkins' design is visible at Salubria, although it has changed significantly in the fifty-four years since it was installed. The boxwood oval is the most obvious result of Hopkins' work, although the shrubs have now grown to almost twice their intended dimension and the differentiation in size has been lost (figure 34). Many of the trees in Hopkins' drawings (both existing and proposed) are now gone, so that the intended spatial organization and symmetry is no longer legible (figure 35). As some of the few known extant documents related to the landscape at Salubria, Hopkins' correspondence and drawings are a valuable record of one era of the estate. Hopkins' work at Salubria was not a "restoration" since there are no known records of the original garden and landscape design. Instead, Hopkins drew on his knowledge of colonial gardens in general as well as his specific reading of the landscape at Salubria in order to develop a new design for the site. NOTES

1. University of Virginia Office of the Architect website, June 2010. http://www.virginia.edu/architectoffice/memorialtree/officialHopkins.html2. Ibid. 3. William Rieley, personal communication, August 2010.4. University of Virginia Office of the Architect website, June 2010. 5. The misrepresentation of the terrace topography in Hopkins’ drawings may be explained by the fact that Hopkins focused here on the boxwood oval and did not have time to complete a larger landscape study. He wrote to Mrs. Harrison on June fourth 1955: “I have not had a chance to prepare any studies on the remainder of the scheme but want to send this off in time for removals this month.“6. Letter from Hopkins to Harrison, June 4, 1955. Personal collection of Leslie Grayson.7. Ibid.8. Ibid.9. Ibid.

10. Mrs. George L. Harrison to Alden Hopkins, March 29, 1957 (mis-dated as 1956). Personal collection of Leslie Grayson.

46

N

1” = 100’





White Pine (Pinus virginiana)



Goldenraintree (Koelreuteria paniculata)


Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)


Plants on Hopkins plans (existing and proposed) that are now missing

avg width 11’4”

avg width 11’4”

avg width 6’

avg width 12’

1” = 50’

1” = 50’

figure 35. Fading Vision: Plants Missing Since the Hopkins Plansfigure 34. Comparison of Hopkins’ design of boxwood oval (top) with its current form and dimensions (below).

N

1” = 60’

47

6 SALUBRIA IN THE CONTEXT OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY GARDENS

As of this writing, few answers exist to questions about the original garden at Salubria. In the absence of contemporary descriptions, domestic records, library inventories, archeological research, and so on, posing educated, speculative questions about the garden may help lead to future discoveries. As such, a general knowledge of Virginia's eighteenth-century estate design and gardens is crucial context for learning more about Salubria's past. This context allows us to understand how Salubria was similar to or different from contemporary gardens, and provides clues about garden features that may have existed at one time but have since disappeared. Salubria follows many of the principles of country place design as described by Arthur Shurcliff in the article "The Gardens of the Governor's Palace, Williamsburg, Virginia." Shurcliff describes the prevalence of this approach to gardening and site design in early Virginia: The earliest of the great gardens of Virginia were built with painstaking care according to rules. These garden rules, call them the garden fashions of the day if you

wish, had been developed in England after centuries of experiment and under influences from Italy, France and Holland. The rules were part of a larger series of

written and traditional formulas which were used as guides in building entire country places and included the general site, the approach by road or water, the relation

of the approach to certain "vistas," the placing of the house and its outbuildings, the relation of these structures to certain "yards," the alignment of trees, and the

position and shape of gardens1."

The following principles of country place design2 were applied at Salubria and are visible there today:

--build on good high land, well drained, not too far from river transportation -- If the site is not adjacent to a river, it should look directly toward a fine cross-country view --the site of a place should have straight vista of approach, not too steep or undulating to prohibit a long straight driveway --site should be built across both vistas mentioned above (river/countryside and approach) --site should have ample level ground around house for a symmetrically placed front yard and back yard, both should be large. If you can't make them level, you may break them into a series of terraces or "falls" to make flat symmetrical surfaces --yards should be square or rectangular. If rectangular, make yard twice as long as they are wide. Or, use ratio of two to three, or three to four --gardens should be placed either on the axis of the retired side of the house or symmetrically each side of the house axis, or asymmetrically at one end of house

48

The following rules may have been applied at Salubria, but the evidence is unknown or has disappeared:

--if the house needs wings, you should place them at each end of your house between your front and back yards

--outbuildings should be placed in rows, preferably symmetrical rows along the edges of your yards, and these edges should be fenced, hedged, or walled

--trees for shade and ornament should be planted in rows along edges of yards and terraces, and along edges of vistas or in rows paralleling them

--gardens should be laid out formally and symmetrically with the axes of the mansion or of the yards in simple patterns or rectangles, or occasional circles. Elaborate patterns permissible. Define the pattern of your garden by the positions of your paths, and these may be accented by hedges to frame the beds which should be of useful size. Plant trees for shade and for ornament, and you may use fruit trees generously, but all should be planted in rows or should accent your pattern in other ways

--gardens should be enclosed by fences, hedges, or walls at the property edge --gardens should be framed by the rows of trees of the yards --garden should be entered through a gateway

--if no churchyard is near, set apart a plot of ground for a graveyard near the edge of your place

We might imagine that, based on the principles of country place design, the first step at Salubria was to choose a suitable location for the house. A site was chosen on top of a ridge, where the land was relatively flat before sloping down in all directions. Then, a straight approach drive may have been constructed from the existing east-west market road. Once these choices were made, the designers could plan the yards and gardens, including enclosures, pathways, terraces, trees and garden beds3.

PROSPECT

An important benefit of situating a house on a rise is the prospect it affords over the surrounding landscape. Eighteenth-century mid-Atlantic estate owners employed falling gardens and other terracing in part to further establish and manipulate views to and from the house. Then as today, a prospect offered a pleasurable aesthetic experience as well as a sense of power relative to one's surroundings. Philip Vickers Fithian, tutor at Nomini Hall, repeatedly remarked in his journal (1773-1774) on the impressive views from the estate over the surrounding landscape. He noted that from his room he had "a broad, diversified, and an exceedingly beautiful Prospect of the high craggy banks of the River Nominy4!" Fithian's remarks describe a prevalent sensibility at the time about the value of a commanding view.

49

Some gardeners of this era employed design methods to change the prospect and increase the perception of space. Archaeologist Mark Leone describes how eighteenth-century gardeners manipulated perception through spatial design, particularly at the William Paca garden in Annapolis5. As at the Paca garden, terraces of unequal dimension were one way to achieve increased perception of depth. The house and garden at Salubria may have been located in part for the prospect over the surrounding landscape and in particular the view toward Mount Pony (figures 36-37). In the early days of Salubria the garden would have offered unimpeded views over the surrounding agricultural fields. In addition to the joy of seeing far over a landscape, the ability to look over one's own fields (and the people working there) may have provided a sense of power to the landowner.

GEOMETRY

Mid-eighteenth century mid-Atlantic gardens were characterized by symmetrical organization and geometrical planting beds6. Garden historian Barbara Wells Sarudy notes that the gentry at this time were designing "elegant geometric gardens" in which "straight paths and walkways formed the skeleton." Sarudy further describes how mid-Atlantic gardens "appeared to strive for uniformity in every part; exact levels, straight


figure 36. View from Salubria west to Mount Pony, 1933, photo by John Herndon. figure 37. View from Salubria west to Mount Pony, 2010.

50

lines, parallels, squares, circles, and other geometrical figures were used to effect symmetry and proportion7." The geometry at Salubria, however, appears imprecise (figure 15). The middle terrace in the falling garden is not aligned with the main axis of the house, and the slopes curve rather than aligning at right angles. We do not know why this is the case, or what the significance may be. Doubtless, it would have been very difficult to create rigidly orthogonal terraces from an irregularly-shaped ridge.

ENCLOSURE

Typically, gardens of this time in Virginia would have been enclosed with walls or fences8. These served to separate the space of the garden from its surroundings, and may also have defended the garden and its plants against intrusion by animals or people. At both Carter's Grove (c.1751) and Kingsmill (1715-1719), archaeological work discovered that a fence began at the house and enclosed the entire garden, including terraces (figure 42). Photographic evidence shows that the location of fences at Salubria has changed over time (figures 24-27); the existing fences and locations are clearly not original. It is possible that an original fence would have been rectangular like the ones discovered at Carter's Grove and Kingsmill.

PRODUCTIVE GARDENS

Garden historian Peter Martin describes the importance of productive gardens in colonial Virginia, where, unlike the English country house owner, the "Virginia planter had to be a legitimate farmer familiar with agriculture and how to make it pay. The produce in the gardens... was a vital part of the household economy9." For convenience, the kitchen garden was usually located near the kitchen10. In addition to the practicality of supplying food for the household, fruit and vegetable gardening was sometimes a passionate pursuit for eighteenth-century estate owners like Landon Carter at Sabine Hall11 and Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Given its relatively isolated location, it seems even more probable that Salubria possessed a kitchen garden. The level areas around the house or the terraces in the falling garden could have been planted in this way with fruits, vegetables, and/or herbs. There is evidence that the flats of some falling gardens were used for kitchen gardens; for example, painter Charles Wilson Peale described the Charles Carroll house in Annapolis where "the Garden contains a variety of excellent fruit, and the flats are a kitchen garden12."

OTHER PLANTS

In addition to edible plants, eighteenth-century mid-Atlantic gardeners planted beds with ornamentals. At times edible plants and ornamentals were separated, at times combined; but orderly geometric beds were consistent. Barbara Wells Sarudy writes: "In the early Republic, gardeners strove for a balance of useful plants and trees and genteel design. On both town and country plots, most Chesapeake gentry, merchants,

51

and artisans planned gardens that were both practical and ornamental13."

ALLÉES

Allées (rows of trees lining both sides of a drive or path) were prevalent on eighteenth-century estates in Virginia and beyond. Rows of trees emphasize the procession towards the house and focus views towards it, creating an impression of grandeur and formality. Estates contemporary to Salubria that are known to have had allées lining avenues include Nomini Hall and Westover14. Sarudy quotes Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard M’Mahon on eighteenth century gardeners' preference for allées of trees: "Straight rows of the most beautiful trees, forming long avenues and grand walks, were in great estimation, considered as great ornaments, and no considerable estate and eminent pleasure-ground were without several of them15."

BOWLING GREENS

Bowling greens were a popular feature in colonial gardens, and were often located at the top of falling gardens16. As the name suggests, these flat, smooth lawns were sometimes used for playing bowls, but that was not always the case. Sarudy writes that most bowling greens measured 100' by 200' 17, and that they were sometimes sunk slightly below grade. This is not the case at Salubria, where the south terrace or bowling green measures approximately 110' square, and is level with the surrounding ground. Other estates contemporary to Salubria that include bowling greens are Sabine Hall, Nomini Hall, Mount Airy, and Mount Clare.

GENDER AND GARDENING

In the eighteenth century, as today, both men and women pursued the art and craft of gardening. For colonial gentry, gardening was an educated pursuit worthy of their status, and not restricted to one gender. However, the specific ways that men and women engaged in gardening may have differed to some degree. We have seen how Alexander Spotswood designed gardens throughout his life in Virginia, as did fellow plantation owners like Landon Carter and William Byrd II. Several early Virginia gentlemen participated in plant exchanges18. Furthermore, gardens, like houses, served as a representation of a colonial gentlemen's status. Sarudy writes, "The garden was the gentleman's stage and a device with which to help define his position in the emerging republic19." Eighteenth-century women were similarly engaged with gardening, although their relationship to gardens may have differed from that of men. At Nomini Hall, Fithian was impressed with Frances Anne Tasker Carter's knowledge about gardening, which they discussed together at length. Garden historian Peter Martin writes that the role of gardener or "farmeress" was a fashionable identity for eighteenth-century women20. Fewer women of this time were known to have been the principle designers and/or record-keepers for a garden. Lady Jean Skipwith of Prestwould is a notable exception; Skipwith kept over twenty years of garden records21.

52

Contemporary descriptions such as those of Fithian and William Byrd II describe both men and women using gardens for recreation, socializing, and discussing business. As such, the garden was not the province of one gender more than that of the other. Thus, we cannot assume that the garden at Salubria was the exclusive province of either Lady Spotswood or John Thompson. It is more likely that both played some role in its development, and that Thompson's second wife likely did as well. The garden would most probably have been used by the entire family as well as by visitors to Salubria. This brief overview of Virginia's eighteenth-century estate design and gardens is intended not to be exhaustive or conclusive, but to provide a context for understanding Salubria and to stimulate questions that may lead to future discoveries.

NOTES

1. Arthur Shurcliff, “The Gardens of the Governor’s Palace, Williamsburg, Virginia,” Landscape Architecture 27(2): 64-66.

3. Shurcliff, 66.

4. Hunter D. Farish, ed., Journal and Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773-1774: A Plantation Tour of the Old Dominion (Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg,

Inc, 1943), 30.

5. Mark P. Leone, The Archaeology of Liberty in an American Capital: Excavations in Annapolis (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 68-69.

6. Sarudy, 21.

7. Sarudy, 6.

8. Sarudy, 20-21, and 62.

9. Peter Martin, The Pleasure Gardens of Virginia: from Jamestown to Jefferson (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), 100.

10. Ibid., 117.

11. Ibid., 100.

12. Sarudy, 50.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid., 41, 56-57.

15. Bernard M’Mahon, , and J. Jay Smith, The American Gardener’s Calendar: Adapted to the Climate and Seasons of the United States. 11th ed. (Philadelphia: J.

B. Lippincott, 1857), 73; quoted in Sarudy, 56.

16. Sarudy, 34.

17. Ibid.

18. Martin Pleasure Gardens, 133.

19. Sarudy, 49.

20. Martin Pleasure Gardens, 118.

21. Ibid., 126.

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7 SPOTSWOOD AS GARDENER

Alexander Spotswood (c. 1676 – 6 June 1740) played a significant role in early gardening in Virginia, having designed and implemented the gardens and landscape schemes for two influential colonial buildings, the Governor's Palace and the Enchanted Castle. Spotswood's relation to Salubria is indirect (the estate was built for his widow, Lady Butler Brayne Spotswood, and her second husband, John Thompson). However, Alexander Spotswood's engagement in garden and landscape design may have affected Butler Brayne's sensibility about gardening during their time together at the Enchanted Castle and beyond. As ambitious in his pursuit of gardening as he was in his political and business careers, Spotswood's plans for the Governor's Palace and garden in Williamsburg far exceeded the expectations (and budget) established by the House of Burgesses1 . In fact, the name "Governor's Palace" originated from criticism of Spotswood's lavish design for what was originally termed the Governor's Mansion2. Interestingly, this kind of ironic naming was repeated for Spotswood's estate at Germanna, now known as the "Enchanted Castle3. " The Governor's Palace and garden are often described as being among the most influential buildings and gardens of the colonial era. Arthur Schurcliff, head landscape architect at Colonial Williamsburg from 1928-1941, wrote, "The gardens and grounds of the Williamsburg Palace are... the most perfect large and fully developed example of the English place design of 1705 to 1781 in America, if not in England itself4. " Schurcliff's evaluation of the powerful influence of the Governor's Palace is echoed by archaeologist Douglas Sanford , who sees it as "the prototype for the gentry's mansions of Virginia that followed5,” and by garden historian Peter Martin, for whom the Palace represents an "enormously influential garden in the history of American colonial gardening6." Spotswood's design for the large (over twenty acres) formal garden at the Governor's Palace included a forecourt garden between advanced flanking dependencies, orchards, kitchen garden, flower and fruit gardens, diamond-shaped parterres with topiary, and three falling terraces with a rectangular canal below7. Spotswood's approach to his design of the Governor's Palace is suggested in an excerpt from a letter to his brother in 17108: "The life I live here is neither in a crow of company nor in a throng of business, but rather after a quiet country manner, and now I am sufficiently amused with planting orchard and gardens and with finishing a large house which is designed (at the country's charge) for the reception of their Governours." Spotswood seems to suggest that the design of gardens and landscape is an appropriately genteel pursuit for someone like himself in the relatively rural context of Williamsburg, and he seems to take pride in this activity. Furthermore, this quote reveals his sense of freedom with other's money; as Governor, he was able to take advantage of access to public funds to create an impressive house and garden for his own use. The terraced garden at the Governor's Palace, built between 1715 and 1719, may have been the first of its kind in the colonies9. A letter by Spotswood in 1718 (in reference to the Governor's Palace garden) is also the first known written use of the term "falling garden10." The terraces were shaped from the steep slope of a ravine; at the lowest point, Spotswood created a formal canal. Spotswood's expensive designs for the Governor's Palace eventually provoked the ire of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Garden historian Peter Martin writes: "By 1716 (Spotswood) began to be resented in the colony for what was regarded as his profligacy and court-like pretentiousness11." While the cost was likely the main issue, the Burgesses may also have associated elaborate gardens, terraced and otherwise,

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with the aristocracy and rejected them as inappropriate for the more practically-minded colonial government12. The Enchanted Castle, Spotswood's ornate mansion at his Germanna property on the Virginia frontier, was his second great estate design. Once the majority of the Governor's Palace was completed in 1716, Spotswood began construction of a mansion at Germanna in 1718-171913. Spotswood's scheme for the Enchanted Castle shares with the Governor's Palace advanced outbuildings that frame a formal forecourt and a falling garden with three terraces. Where the Governor's Palace and garden represented a seat of power in Williamsburg, the Enchanted Castle represented Spotswood's power within the frontier community at Germanna. As we saw in the previous chapter, Lady Butler Brayne Spotswood and Alexander Spotswood lived together at the Enchanted Castle for eleven years. It is possible to infer that Butler Brayne desired a similar home and designed landscape for her second marriage to John Thompson. The Enchanted Castle is discussed further in Chapter 2. In addition to his built works, Spotswood's passion for gardening is evidenced by his possession of books on the subject. Architectural historian Barbara Mooney writes in Prodigy Houses: "Among the 25 architectural patrons in the study group, only 5 are known with any certainty to have owned books offering advice on the design of the built environment. One rare piece of evidence of architecture book ownership can be glimpsed in connection with Alexander Spotswood14." Unfortunately, there is no record of the books owned by John Thompson and Lady Spotswood at Salubria. While Spotswood's influence on Salubria is a matter of speculation, it is clear that he played an influential role on colonial estate design, integrating building, garden, and landscape. A comparison between Salubria and Spotswood's designs would be an interesting subject for future research. NOTES1. Martin, Fruites, 318.2. Sanford, 49.3. Bassett, 356.During a visit in 1732, William Byrd II employed an ironic tone to describe how the Germanna community had largely dispersed by that time: "This famous town consists of Colonel Spotswood's enchanted castle on one side of the street, and a baker's dozen of ruinous tenements on the other..."4. Shurcliff, 68-69. 5. Sanford, 50.6. Martin, Fruites, 316.7. Sanford, 50. 8. Alexander Spotswood to John Spotswood, August 17, 1710, in L. J . Cappon, ed., “Correspondence of Alexander Spotswood with John Spotswood of Edinburgh,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 60 (April 1952), 227. Quoted in C. Allan Brown, “Eighteenth-Century Virginia Plantation Gardens,” Regional Garden Design in the United States. Ed. Therese O’Malley and Marc Treib (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1995) 134. 9. Sarudy, 28. The terraces at the Governor's Palace appear on the 1782 "Frenchman's Map" of Williamsburg. Martin, Fruites, 317. Traces of the terraces and canal were discovered by archaeology in 1929.10. George Humphrey Yetter, Williamsburg Before and After : the Rebirth of Virginia’s Colonial Capital. Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1988. Spotswood wrote in 1718 that "if the Assembly did not care to be at the Expence of the Fish-Pond and Falling Gardens, to take them to my Self." (Williamsburg Before and After p. 153.) 11. Martin, Fruites, 318.12. Shurcliff, 80.13. Barile, 51 and 225.14. Mooney, 209.

55

figure 38. Falling Garden at The Governor’s Palace, Williamsburg Virginia, c. 1716

8 OVERVIEW OF FALLING GARDENS

The most striking landscape feature at Salubria is the falling garden south of the house. These steep slopes and level terraces were shaped from the existing ridge landform to create places for walking, planting, and viewing the surrounding landscape. While paths, plants, fences, and other early garden features have long disappeared, the earthwork itself survives and continues to shape a dramatic garden space at Salubria. In order to imagine what this garden may have been like and to understand its significance, it is helpful to consider falling gardens as a type. The falling garden developed and reached its peak of popularity in the eighteenth century. It is most strongly associated with the mid-Atlantic; as such it can be considered a regional garden form1 . As a type, the falling garden has been under-explored and offers rich possibilities for research. This chapter will synthesize several sources about falling gardens and propose questions for further research. A falling garden has multiple terraces with steep earthen slopes between them (figures 38-40). The level terrace is sometimes referred to as a "flat" and the slope may be called a "fall2." Planting of the flats and falls varied; in some gardens all surfaces were grass, in some the flats were planted with flowers, herbs, and/or vegetables3. One would move through the garden from flat to flat with the help of stairs or more gently sloped "ramps4." Falling gardens were often built overlooking a river or other body of water, but this is not always the case. Like other designed landscapes, the falling garden functions on multiple levels simultaneously, encompassing practical responses to site, cultural associations, aesthetic sensibilities, and social symbolism. What makes the falling garden an extremely rich subject for research is that it was emerging at the same time as Europeans were forging new cultural identities in the colonies5. In developing the falling garden typology, colonists and then new Americans drew on European garden heritage and translated it to a new landscape and culture. These gardens reflected

56

Jacqueline Luzar

their inherited traditions but also actively shaped their identities and roles in their developing colonial society. As symbols of education, culture, and wealth, these gardens asserted their owners’ places at the top of colonial hierarchy. However, these gardens are more than symbols; they are places where people planted and harvested fruits and vegetables, where they walked with their loved ones, where they looked over the fields, rivers and mountains beyond. They shaped daily practices of work and leisure, relationships among friends and family, and experiences of the landscape near and far from home. Garden historian Barbara Wells Sarudy has compiled extensive information on falling gardens. She writes: Sloping falls gardens... could be found up and down the Atlantic Coast throughout the eighteenth century. Because the topography of the area

allowed it, many Chesapeake gentry whose homes sat on a rise of ground terraced their gardens. Many of these falls sloped down to a body of

water, and the main approach to colonial houses was often by water. Aesthetically, terraces provided a setting for the house, a pleasing

view from upper stories, and a platform for surveying the surrounding countryside6."

The earliest known use of the term is by Alexander Spotswood in 1718 in reference to his design for the garden of the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg (figures 38-39). That year, Spotswood wrote that "if the Assembly did not care to be at the Expence of the Fish-Pond and Falling Gardens, to take them to my Self7." This may also be the first terraced garden in the colonies, built between 1715 and 17198. Just as Spotswood's Palace inspired others to adopt Georgian architecture, his falling garden may have had a strong influence on plantation and estate owners. The

figure 39. Falling Garden at The Governor’s Palace, Williamsburg Virginia, c. 1716 figure 40. Dan’s Hill, Danville VA, finished 1833

57

fact that the term emerged in the colonies and was not used in Europe suggests that colonists may have seen these gardens as similar to, but distinct from, similar terraced gardens in Europe. A study of how the practices, aesthetics, and cultural associations of falling gardens differed from terraced gardens in Europe would be a rich topic for research.

SOURCES Falling gardens draw on a heritage of terraced gardens that began in antiquity and continued to develop in Europe during the Renaissance and then in the eighteenth century. Terraces draw associations with classical culture and the ideal of the villa, a country home for leisure and enlightened study. By engaging this rich garden history and adapting it to a new society and culture, colonial gentry were expressing their identity related to the "old world" and the new. Landscape historian C. Allan Brown argues convincingly that eighteenth-century plantation owners were making self-conscious references to the European villa tradition when they constructed their grand estates and terraced gardens. The references were not only physical and spatial (the gardens themselves) but also textual; the language used to describe the plantation estates made specific reference to the traditional villa ideal. This ideal, developed in antiquity and revisited during the Renaissance, and then eighteenth-century England, conceived of the villa as a place of "retirement " (otium) removed from the business (negotium) and clamor of the city. The villa lifestyle was associated with wisdom, virtue, and happiness9. Brown points to many instances in which plantation owners like Landon Carter, William Byrd, and Alexander Spotswood drew associations between their life in Virginia and the villa tradition. For instance, the name of Carter's plantation, Sabine Hall, makes reference to Sabine Farm, Horace's villa of Roman antiquity. Spotswood invoked the concept of otium in a letter to his brother in 1710 describing the gentry of Virginia enjoying "a perfect retir'd Country life; for here is not in the whole Colony a place that may be compar'd to a Brittish village; every one living disperst up & down at their Plantations10..." Significantly, gardens were seen as the center of villa life; Palladio wrote that gardens were "the chief recreation of a villa11." One can imagine that in Renaissance Italy, and in the dispersed Virginia countryside Spotswood described, gardens were an important place of culture and social life. According to Brown, the use of terraces constituted the strongest connection between the plantation gardens of Virginia, contemporary English villas, and Italian villas of the Renaissance and antiquity12. Terraces were strongly associated with these European garden traditions; Virginia landowners drew on this heritage when they built falling gardens. EARTHWORK At the most fundamental level, a falling garden is the reshaping of an existing landform to create a series of steep slopes and level terraces. Falling gardens therefore emerge directly from their topographic context, such as the slopes above rivers in the Virginia Tidewater or the rolling terrain of the Piedmont. By shaping the ground surrounding a house, these gardens relate the house physically and visually to the larger landscape. On a hilly site, in colonial times as today, leveling the ground was one of the first moves required to for building a house. Following the traditions of English country estate design, the colonial gentry usually sited their great houses on a rise. This was a place of prominence from which its owners could see and be seen, suggesting both a defensive stance and an assertion of status. Making a level area around the house gave it a

58

platform in the landscape, limited erosion and allowed for planting a garden. The multiple terraces in a falling garden would have involved cut and fill (removing earth from part of the slope and adding it to another part) in order to form flats and falls. Depending upon the design of the garden, it may have required that earth be brought from other parts of the house site, conversely, terracing may have resulted in "leftover" earth that needed to be deposited elsewhere on site. Earth and other materials excavated for the building foundation may have been used to create falling gardens13. Archaeology at Carter's Grove showed that the earth removed to form the falling garden was used to build flanking terraces14. In the colonial era, terraces would have been built using relatively simple machinery and tools. The labor was likely provided by slaves, possibly by servants; oxen or other animals may have assisted. As such, building a falling garden was an expensive and time-consuming undertaking. One could only construct a falling garden if he owned or could rent the labor force, and if he was willing to pay for labor in a garden, not only in the fields. The very expense may have been part of the prestige of a falling garden, in a sense, they advertised the owner's wealth and command of labor and land.

MOVEMENT Falling gardens were made to be experienced through walking, as well as to be perceived visually. While this is true of any garden, the slopes and flats of a falling garden require a particular system of movement that enables one to move across the changes in topography. The choreography of movement was an important part of the overall organization of the falling garden and its relationship to the house. Sarudy writes that falling gardens in Maryland tended to employ simple grass slopes (ramps) to allow movement between the flats, while European terraced gardens and some early Virginia falling gardens had stairways between terraces15. Falling gardens that employ grass slopes as walkways include Carter’s Grove, Mount Airy, Pleasant Point, Ridout House, Sabine Hall (figures 42-43), and, apparently, Salubria (see chapter 1 and figure 15). Stairs connect the flats at the Governor’s Palace and Kingsmill. The diagrams in figure 41 consider the how the the relationship between the house and terraces is closely connected to the system of movement in the falling garden. A thorough analysis of ways of walking through falling gardens could provide more information about how these gardens were conceived, constructed, and experienced.

PROSPECT One of the important effects of creating a falling garden (and closely related to the choreography of movement) is the establishment of prospect over the surrounding landscape. "Prospect" implies both the pleasure of viewing as an aesthetic experience as well as the sense of power or domination linked to an ability to view across great distance. Garden historian Peter Martin writes that Tidewater plantations were deliberately sited "high enough above the rivers to command prospects of them and the surrounding countryside16." Visitors to Tidewater plantations and estates often arrived by water, and so would have seen (and have been seen from) the great house sitting prominently atop its falling garden. Sarudy and Martin both write that the ability to see and be seen in terraced gardens lends them a theatricality quality. Martin writes that terraces in the Renaissance Italian tradition served as "a stage set from which to look out on the drama either in the landscape or evident elsewhere

59

Carter’s Grove, near Williamsburg VA

Here, one walks through the center of the falls and terraces.

The visual axis and the way of walking through the falling garden are the same. From the house, you can see your path down the center of the terraces and falls before walking it. Beyond the terraces, one walks on paths along or across the flat garden area.

Salubria, Stevensburg VA

note: lower elevations are darker

Would one have walked through the center of the falling garden at Salubria, as at Carter’s Grove? While possible, this is unlikely, because the relationship of the house and garden does not emphasize the importance of the center of the falling garden.

This diagram shows that there are two visual axes at Salubria: the axis straight through the house, and an axis that leads from the approach road to the house through the center of the middle terrace.

1” = 200’N

1” = 200’N

figure 41. Choreography of movement in falling gardens

path of movement path of movement

house axis house axis

line from house to center of terrace

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CARTER’S GROVEc. 1751

Carter Burwell6 miles east of Williamsburg, VA

image after William Kelso

KINGSMILL 1715-1719

Lewis BurwellJames City County, VA

image after Fraser Neiman

SABINE HALLc. 1732

Landon CarterRichmond County, VA

image after L.G. Davis

1” = 200’N

1” = 200’N

1” = 200’N

figure 42. AXIALLY SYMMETRIC falling gardens

In this dominant falling garden typology, the falls and terraces are aligned parallel to the house. The terraces and gardens are arranged symmetrically along a central axis through the main house. This type is strongly associated with the James River plantations, and closely parallels the villa typology then-emerging in the Thames River valley outside London.

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CHARLES CARROLL GARDENbegun 1771

Charles CarrollAnnapolis, MD

image after Mark Leone

DAN’S HILLfinished 1833Robert Wilson

Danville, VA

image after Jacqueline Luzar

GOVERNOR’S PALACE1715-1719

Governor Alexander SpotswoodWilliamsburg, VA

image after Arthur Shurcliff

1” = 200’N

1” = 200’N

1” = 200’N

figure 43. NON-AXIAL / ASYMMETRIC falling gardens

These falling gardens are not aligned with the central axis of the house and are not parallel to the house, in part due to the specific topography of the site or the boundary of the property.

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in the gardens17." Sarudy describes how mid-Atlantic gardeners in the latter half of the eighteenth century "designed the grounds surrounding their homes as their personal stages, on which they presented themselves to those passing by18." In more isolated settings, like at Salubria, there would have been few if any passers-by to observe the drama within the falling garden. In these cases, the "theater" may have functioned on a more intimate scale, allowing observation of family members and visitors as they walked, recreated, and worked.

GEOMETRY As was discussed in chapter 7, symmetrical structure and geometric beds were prevalent in mid-eighteenth-century colonial gardens. Falling gardens were often organized in this way, employing bilateral symmetry across the main axis of the house. However, there are many falling gardens that are non-axial and asymmetric. This report identifies these as two typologies of falling gardens; it would require more research to draw conclusions about the significance of these different organizations. In discussing the geometry and organization of falling gardens, it is crucial to consider the operation of terracing. By its nature, the practice of terracing is a response to the existing site topography. Because topography is irregular and three-dimensional, it is more difficult to shape it into precise geometries than it would be to create an orthogonal planting bed on a flat surface. Terracing requires removal of earth and its deposition elsewhere; this method may in part have determined the dimensions of the falls and flats. The shape of a property, location of house, and the relationship to a water body all would have had an effect on the organization of the falling garden. As such, it was not as straightforward to impose orthogonal geometry on a terraced garden as it would have been in one with less topographical change.

PLANTS Planting design in falling gardens varied. In some gardens both the flats and falls were planted in grass, in others the flats were planted with flowers, herbs, and/or vegetables. According to Sarudy, “plain grass flats often defined the terraces of the gentry19.” She suggests that this practice altered toward the end of the eighteenth century when specimen gardens and flowers once again flourished in mid-Atlantic states20. Trees were probably rare in falling gardens, because unless they were carefully located and maintained, they would obscure the striking terraced landform. Historian Peter Martin notes that any fruit trees in a falling garden would likely have been on lower terraces, so as not to obscure the falling garden effect21. In 1777 John Adams visited Mount Clare in Baltimore County and recorded his observations of the falling garden. While he does not include details on the plantings, his description suggests that the flats contained elegant ornamental beds: “There is a most beautiful walk from the house down to the water; there is a descent not far from the house; you have a fine garden then you descend a few steps and have another fine garden; you go down a few more and have another22.”

SOCIAL SPACE As well as spaces for plants, falling gardens served as social space for an estate’s inhabitants and visitors. Contemporary writers like William Byrd II described how falling gardens were places to socialize and to discuss business matters. Byrd visited the Spotswoods at the Enchanted Castle in 1732 and described the falling gardens there, where he and Spotswood walked together. Byrd notes that he and Spotswood “took a turn in the

63

Garden, which has nothing beautiful but 3 Terrace Walks that fall in Slopes one below another23.” At another point, he and Spotswood “took a turn on the Terrace walk” and engaged in conversation there24. This description shows how the falling garden was part of the everyday social life of the estate.

TYPOLOGIES Different typologies exist within the category of falling gardens. Falling gardens differ from each other in their site structure or organization, the relationship of the house to the terraces, choreography of movement, and dimensions and proportions of flats and falls. A closer examination of how these differences constitute various typologies is useful for better understanding falling gardens as a whole. Falling gardens seem to fall into two broad categories, the axially-symmetric type and the non-axial/asymmetric type. The axially-symmetric type appears more frequently and as such could be considered the dominant type (figure 42). Here, the falls and terraces are aligned parallel to the house. The terraces and gardens are arranged symmetrically along a central axis through the main house. This type is strongly associated with the James River plantations, and closely parallels the villa typology then-emerging in the Thames River valley outside London25. In the non-axial/asymmetric typology, the falling garden is not aligned with the central axis of the house and is not parallel to the house, in part due to the specific topography of the site or the boundary of the property (figure 43). The terraces in this case may lie completely to one side of the building (The Governor’s Palace), fall to one side only (Charles Carroll Garden), or run in two or more directions (Dan’s Hill). Salubria seems to fit into this typology because the axial symmetry is inexact, and because the terraces and falls are aligned perpendicular to, not parallel to, the house. While this type appears less frequently than the other, it does not seem to be considered inferior. The fact that the Governor’s Palace garden, a lavish and influential falling garden, employed an asymmetric organization suggests that this typology was in no way substandard. It could be that one type or another was preferred by certain families or classes, or in certain regions or decades; for example, the James River plantations (and the Carter family’s) appear to have preferred axially-symmetric falling gardens. The consideration of typology is one way to speculate on why a particular falling garden was built with its specific organization, number of terraces, dimensions, and so on. Was it important to conform to a type, or not? What was the role of influence in the proliferation and evolution of falling gardens? Further research could also explore whether certain typologies are associated with different physiographic regions, or social classes, time periods, and so on.

TIMELINE One way to better understand the proliferation and evolution of falling gardens is by considering a chronology or timeline (figure 44). This preliminary timeline is intended as a tool for understanding when and how the falling garden typology developed. It would require further research to determine definitively the construction dates of these gardens. Based on the information currently available and included here, Alexander Spotswood’s falling gardens at the Governor’s Palace and the Enchanted Castle were among the first falling gardens in the colonies. Salubria, designed for Spotswood’s widow, is thus indirectly related to some of the earliest and most influential falling gardens.

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3 m

iles

from

Fre

deri

cksb

urg

VA

1710

1740

1770

1800

1830

1720

1750

1780

1810

1840

1860

+

1730

1760

1790

1820

1850

figure 44. Preliminary timeline of falling gardens

This timeline is intended as a tool for understanding when and how the falling garden typology developed; it does not constitute a definitive list. The timeline includes all falling gardens that the author is aware of and which are associated with an estimated date of construction. It would require further research to determine definitively the construction dates of these gardens. Based on the information included here, Salubria was built during the apparent peak in popularity in falling gardens.

65

FA

LL

LI N

EB L U E

R I DG

ERaR

k

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athamChatham

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illFall Hil

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Weston ManorW

Gunston HallGGG

Federal Hill

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leasant PointPleasant Pointter’s GroveCarter

Woodberry ForestEnchanted Castle

overnor's PalaceGovernor's

am Paca GWilliam Paca GardenaRidout house nRidout house and gardennRRRCharles Carr nd gardenarles Carroll house anneee

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SALUBRIAVA

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figure 45. Mapping A Regional Garden Type: falling gardens in relation to each other, physiographic regions, and rivers. The map is intended as a tool for understanding the range of the falling garden typology; it does not constitute a definitive record.

1 : 2,000,000N

66

Other falling gardens were built in the following decades, with the apparent peak in popularity occurring in the 1750s and 1760s. The house at Salubria (and probably its falling garden) was built during this time. Understandably, the creation of falling gardens seems to pause during the Revolutionary War. According to the information currently available and included here, the falling garden type begins to fade in the early nineteenth century. Further research could explore how socio-economic and cultural changes affected the popularity of falling gardens and their eventual decline.

MAPPING In addition to investigating the chronology of falling gardens, mapping their location allows us to understand their spatial and geographic distribution (figure 45). Based on the same dataset as the timeline, this map would require further research to determine definitively the construction dates of these gardens. Falling gardens that were more difficult to locate were left off this map. This diagram supports the assertion that falling gardens are a regional garden type, generally limited to Maryland and Virginia. Falling gardens appear to be concentrated in several urban areas such as Fredericksburg, Baltimore, and Annapolis; and also along rivers such as the James, where many plantations were located. There do not appear to be any falling gardens west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia. This diagram could be used as the basis for further research about how the falling garden typologies proliferated and evolved. Mapping software and spatial analysis offer rich and powerful tools for investigating garden history.

CONCLUSION Falling gardens comprise a significant eighteenth-century mid-Atlantic garden typology. Mid-Atlantic gentry drew on the rich heritage of European terraced gardens and translated these types to a new landscape and culture. In the emerging culture of the colonial upper class, falling gardens developed as expressions of taste, wealth and power. Like any successful garden, a falling garden was both poetic and practical. Creating a falling garden made sloped ground productive, established pleasing and commanding views over the surrounding landscape, and extended social space from the house out into the garden. The richness of this subject begs for further research. One area for exploration is the origin and proliferation of the term "falling garden" in order to better understand the evolution of the type. An analysis of the similarities and differences between eighteenth-century English villa gardens and colonial falling gardens would provide a better understanding of how Virginians adapted and transformed this tradition. Within the colonies and states themselves, one could analyze differences between Tidewater and Piedmont falling gardens to learn if there were significant smaller-scale regional variations. These kinds of questions would expand our understanding of eighteenth-century mid-Atlantic gardens, which in turn would deepen our knowledge of American culture at the time.

67

NOTES

1. Sarudy, xi. C. Allan Brown, "Eighteenth-Century Virginia Plantation Gardens: Translating an Ancient Idyll," Regional Garden Design in the United States, Ed. Therese O’Malley

and Marc Treib. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1995. 125-162.

2. Sarudy, 25 and 28.

3. Sarudy 25-27; Martin, Pleasure Gardens, 101.

4. Sarudy, 28.

5. Ibid., 49.

6. Ibid. 24

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid., 28

9. Brown, 131.

10. Alexander Spotswood to John Spotswood, 17 August 1710, in L. J . Cappon, ed., “Correspondence of Alexander Spotswood with John Spotswood of Edinburgh,” Virginia

Magazine of History and Biography 60 (April 1952), 227. Quoted in Brown, 134.

11. Brown, 131.

12. Ibid., 142.

13. Sarudy, 51.

14. Martin, Pleasure Gardens 112, with plan drawing.

15. Sarudy, 35.

16. Martin, Pleasure Gardens 132.

17. Ibid., 101.

18. Sarudy, 3.

19. Sarudy, 26.

20. Ibid.

21. Martin, Pleasure Gardens 117.

22. Sarudy, 48-49.

23. Bassett, 358.

24. Bassett, 367.

25. Brown.

69

View from second story of house over south terrace and boxwood hedge with the falling garden beyond.

9 CONCLUSION

Salubria is an important example of mid-eighteenth-century estate design in the Piedmont of Virginia. The designers of Salubria followed many principles of European country place design, but adapted them to the climate and culture of colonial Virginia. Locating the house on the high point of a ridge, the surrounding land was then made level, and the slope beyond terraced into a falling garden. This falling garden is Salubria’s most striking landscape feature. While similar to other falling gardens, especially in the dimension and number of terraces, Salubria’s falling garden appears somewhat unusual in its perpendicular relationship to the house. Furthermore, the apparent axial alignment that is actually askew is unusual for an eighteenth-century garden. The house and landscape at Salubria are expressions of John Thompson’s and Butler Brayne Spotswood Thompson’s status as landed gentry. The elegance of the estate reflected the couple’s wealth, education, status, and cultural identity. However, many mysteries persist about the origins of the house and garden. It will require further research to determine whether the falling garden is indeed contemporary to the house, how it might have been planted, its original dimensions, location of paths and fences, and so on. In the apparent absence of documentation, many of these questions could be answered only through landscape archaeology. A better understanding of the garden and landscape at Salubria will expand knowledge about falling gardens in general, and more broadly, about regional history. Continued research, preservation, and public education will allow us to benefit from this heritage now and in the future.

70

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APPENDIX A Owners of Salubria

71

APPENDIX B Overview Map of the Salubria Community Cemeteryby Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, www.dovetailcrg.com

72

APPENDIX C Alden Hopkins Boxwood Plan, June 4 1955

Special Collections, Rockefeller Library, Colonial William

sburg Foundation

73

APPENDIX D Alden Hopkins Site Plan

Special Collections, Rockefeller Library, Colonial W

illiamsburg Foundation

collection of Leslie Grayson

March 24 1956

April 26 1956

74

J.C.G.

L.P.G.

S.M.G.

++

++

++

++

+

+

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+

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++

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++

+

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L.P.G.

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++

++

+

++

++

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+

+

+

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++

++

+

+

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+

+

+

+

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+

+

380

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385

385

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370

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375

400400

0390003900

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370370

385

385

39395395

393990903939

3

x

34’ 32’

x

PLANT LIST

TREES

AH Aesculus hippocastanum Horsechestnut

AJ Albizia julibrissin Mimosa

CB Catalpa bignonioides Southern Catalpa

CF Cornus florida Flowering Dogwood

CK Cladastris kentukea Yellowwood

CO Celtis occidentalis Hackberry

FG Fagus grandifolia American Beech

JN Juglans nigra Black Walnut

JV Juniperus virginiana Eastern Redcedar

KP Koelreuteria paniculata Goldenraintree

LT Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip Poplar

RP Robinia pseudoacacia Black Locust

PS Pinus strobus White Pine

QP Quercus phellos Willow Oak

SHRUBS

BS Buxus sempervirens Common Boxwood

SV Syringa vulgaris Common Lilac

Falling garden today Section a - a’ through falling garden looking north (cottage and house in elevation)

Speculation on appearance of falling garden during it earliest period During an earlier era, it is likely that only low-growing plants or grass were planted in the garden so that the dramatic earthwork would be visible.

The Garden Club of Virginia

Sonia BrennerWilliam D. Rieley Fellow

summer 2010

SALUBRIAStevensburg, Virginia

1” = 40’

20’ 40’ 80’

N

entr

y dr

ive

cott

age

fence

JN

FG

AJ

QP

AH

CB

CBCB

CB

BS

CO

CO

CF

JV

JVJV

SVJV

JV

CK

JV

CO

JN

PS

LT

BS

BS

BS BS

BS

LT

LT

JN

CO

KP

CO

CO

CO

Community Cemetery

fence

former location of ice house

well (inactive)

Grayson headstone

brick and stone pattern

corner of landform at edge of lawn

corner of levelled area

road trace

road trace, apparently on house axis

road trace, now in woods

x390.8’

x386.7’

x379.4’

a

JN

JN JNBS

a’

APPENDIX E Plan of Salubria with Landscape Traces

Note: Trees shown with trunks were precisely surveyed, those shown without trunks were located using on-site observation and aerial photography.

The labels indicate traces (evidence of pre-existing features) observed in the landscape. These traces could be important clues about Salubria’s past.

PLANT LIST

TREESAH Aesculus hippocastanum HorsechestnutAJ Albizia julibrissin MimosaCB Catalpa bignonioides Southern CatalpaCF Cornus florida Flowering DogwoodCK Cladastris kentukea YellowwoodCO Celtis occidentalis HackberryFG Fagus grandifolia American BeechJN Juglans nigra Black WalnutJV Juniperus virginiana Eastern RedcedarKP Koelreuteria paniculata GoldenraintreeLT Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip PoplarRP Robinia pseudoacacia Black LocustPS Pinus strobus White PineQP Quercus phellos Willow Oak

SHRUBSBS Buxus sempervirens Common BoxwoodSV Syringa vulgaris Common Lilac

N

1” = 100’

75

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

AERIAL PHOTOS OF SALUBRIAVirginia Aerial Photographs, 1936-1959, Accession #12249, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va. Box 7, folder 10. Photo FG 141 190, August 16, 1937. --Photo 4T 147 from 1958 is missing.

Virginia. United States Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Aerial Photography Field Office. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va. --Map 4 (compiled map of southeast quadrant of Culpeper). Salubria appears on photo 4T 147 from 1958.

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration --1937 aerial photos on microfilm.

SPOTSWOODS BIOGRAPHIESPortraits in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society : a catalogue Virginia Historical Society. --Images of the miniatures of Alexander Spotswood and Anne Butler Brayne Spotswood, with brief biographical information

DOCUMENTATION OF SALUBRIAWPA report at Library of Virginia.

HABS drawing of Salubria at Library of Congress, c.1950.

HABS drawings by Greta Stoyko, 2010.

Herndon, John W. Hansbrough Geneology. Manuscript. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library.

Wheeler, Roy, ed., Historic Virginia Magazine. Charlottesville, VA.: Roy Wheeler Realty Co., 948. --real estate advertisement when house for sale

LITTLE FORK CHURCH AND THE GLEBEBrowning, Mary Jo. Chapter Three, "History of Little Fork Episcopal Church, 1730-1986." Early Churches of Culpeper County, Virginia: Colonial and Ante-bellum Congregations. Thomas, Arthur Dicken, and Angus McDonald Green. Culpeper, VA: The Culpeper Historical Society, 1987.

Davis, Rosalie E. Compiled Minutes of St. Mark's Parish Vestry in Culpeper Library.

76

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY VIRGINIA GARDENSBrown, C. Allan. “Eighteenth-Century Virginia Plantation Gardens.” Regional Garden Design in the United States. Ed. Therese O’Malley and Marc Treib. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1995. 125-162. --Brown argues that the creators and observers of 18th century Virginia gardens make significant references to the villa tradition (and the “biblical pastoral” Brown 155) not only by physically creating terraced gardens but also through their use of language (naming and descriptions). He observes a close connection between the development of colonial falling gardens and contemporary villas on the Thames outside of London.

Kohr, Andrew. “A Terrace Typology: A Systematic Approach to the Study of Historic Terraces during the Eighteenth Century in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States.” Master’s Thesis, Ball State University, 2005. --Includes sources for contemporary garden literature and European terrace precedents. Kornwolf, James D, and Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf. Architecture and Town Planning In Colonial North America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.

Leone, Mark P. The Archaeology of Liberty in an American Capital: Excavations in Annapolis. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005. --Plans of the Paca, Carroll, and Ridout falling gardens of Annapolis. Leone discusses how these mid-18th century gardens manipulated dimensions of terraces, plantings, and paths to increase one’s perception of the size of the garden . Leone theorizes that these gardens were intended to assert power that their owners did not actually have (under increasing restrictions from Britain in pre-Revolutionary era).

Luzar, Jacqueline. “Dan’s Hill of Danville, Virginia.” Report Prepared for the Garden Club of Virginia, 2006.

Martin, Peter. The Pleasure Gardens of Virginia: from Jamestown to Jefferson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.

Martin, Peter. "Long and assiduous endeavors": Gardening in Early Eighteenth Century Virginia." British and American Gardening in the Eighteenth Century: Eighteen Illustrated Essays on Garden History. Ed, R.P. Macubbin and P. Martin, 107-129. Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1984.

Martin, Peter. "Williamsburg: The role of the garden in 'making a town.'" Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture 12:187-204.

Sale, Edith Tunis, ed. Historic Gardens of Virginia. The James River Garden Club, Richmond: 1923.

Sarudy, Barbara Wells. Gardens and Gardening in the Chesapeake, 1700-1805. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore: 1998. --extensive description of falling garden tradition in the Chesapeake.

Shurcliff, Arthur. “The Gardens of the Governor’s Palace, Williamsburg, Virginia.” Landscape Architecture 27(2):55-92. --history of Governor’s Palace gardens including Spotswood’s involvement, documentation of the gardens in maps and contemporary writing, explanation of “rules” that governed creation of English country places.

77

Yetter, George Humphrey. Williamsburg Before and After : the Rebirth of Virginia’s Colonial Capital. Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1988.

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE Mooney, Barbara Burlison. Prodigy Houses of Virginia. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008. --Salubria is one of a set of houses chosen for a comparative study. Included in-depth details gleaned from wills, inventories, etc.

Reiff, Daniel D. Small Georgian Houses In England and Virginia : Origins and Development Through the 1750s. Newark: University of Deleware Press, 1986.

Waterman, Thomas Tileston, The Mansions of Virginia, 1706-1776. The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, 1946.

ARCHAEOLOGY AT GERMANNA AND OTHER VIRGINIA ESTATESBarile, Kerri S. “Archaeology, Architecture and Alexander Spotswood: Redefining the Georgian Worldview at the Enchanted Castle, Germanna, Orange County, Virginia.” PhD diss., University of Texas, 2004.

Sanford, Douglas. "The Gardens at Germanna, Virginia." Earth Patterns: Essays in Landscape Archaeology. William M. Kelso and Rachel Most, eds. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990. --includes a speculative sketch of the landscape surrounding the Governor's estate at Germanna, based on field work and Byrd's diary description of visit

Weber, Carmen A., Elizabeth Anderson Comer, Louise E. Akerson, Gary Norman. "Mount Clare: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Restoration of a Georgian Landscape." Earth Patterns: Essays in Landscape Archaeology. William M. Kelso and Rachel Most, eds. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990.

COLONIAL VIRGINIA HISTORYFischer, David Hackett, and James C. Kelly. Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000.

Scott, W.W. A History of Orange County. Richmond, 1907.

Thomas, Arthur Dicken; and Angus McDonald Green. Early Churches of Culpeper County, Virginia: Colonial and Ante-bellum Congregations. Culpeper, VA: The Culpeper Historical Society, 1987.

HISTORIC REGISTER ENTRIES FOR SALUBRIALoth, Calder. The Virginia Landmarks Register. 4th edition, 1999. --short description of house, history, mention of terraced gardens

78

SALUBRIA DURING THE CIVIL WARWilson, James Harrison. Under the Old Flag: Recollections of Military Operations In the War for the Union, the Spanish War, the Boxer Rebellion, Etc., and James Harrison Wilson. New York: D. Appleton and company, 1912. --describes Wilson’s arrival in Stevensburg on April 17, 1864, to take command of the 3rd Cavalry Division

Schaff, Morris. The Battle of the Wilderness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1910. --describes Wilson’s headquarters at Salubria on p. 54

Written account by a 20th Massachusetts Infantry soldier, National Tribune, October 23, 1890.

GERMANNAThe Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginiahttp://www.germanna.org/

Grayson, Jennie Thornley. Germanna, an Historic Novel. Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, 1930. --Novel by a member of the Grayson family, former owners of Salubria. The novel cannot be considered a source of factual information about Salubria. Salubria is referred to here as "La Grange," it is unclear where this name came from.

JOURNALS AND DIARIES

Bassett, John Spencer ed. The Writings of Colonel William Byrd, of Westover in Virginia, Esqr. New York: Doubleday, Page & co., 1901.

Farish, Hunter D. ed. and introd. Journal and Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773-1774: A Plantation Tour of the Old Dominion. Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg, Inc, 1943.

Rose, Robert, and Ralph Emmett Fall. The Diary of Robert Rose : a View of Virginia by a Scottish Colonial Parson, 1746-1751. Verona, VA: McClure Press, 1977.

LOCAL HISTORY Culpeper Historical Society, Inc. Historic Culpeper. Culpeper, VA: 1974. --Photo of south side of house showing boxwood oval.

Green, Raleigh Travers, and Philip Slaughter. Genealogical and Historical Notes On Culpeper, County, Virginia: Embracing a Revised and Enlarged Edition of Philip Slaughter’s History of St. Mark’s Parish. Baltimore: Southern Book Company, 1958.

Scheel, Eugene M. Culpeper: A Virginia County's History Through 1920. The Culpeper Historical Society, Culpeper VA: 1982.

79

Scheel, Eugene M. "Culpeper County Historic Sites: The Historic Site Survey and Archaeological Reconnaissance of Culpeper County Virginia." Manuscript prepared for the County of Culpeper, November 1992-April 1994. Notebook in the local history section of the Culpeper County Library. --Entries for Salubria and mention of Civil War troops crossing Salubria grounds.

CORRESPONDENCEJohn Thompson and Butler Brayne Spotswood letters. Virginia Historical Society Mss1 Sp687 a 1-6

DEEDS

--John Spotswood lease to Rev. John Thompson (and Butler Brayne?), 1751: Culpeper County Deed Book A, p400

--John Quarles to Rev. John Thompson, 1752: Culpeper County Deed Book A, p423

--Mordecai Barbour to James Hansbrough, 1802: Culpeper County Deed Book X, p 456

--Philip Rootes Thompson sale to Mordecai Barbour, 1792: Culpeper County Deed Book R, p86

--John Hansbrough to Robert O. Grayson, 1853: Culpeper County Deed Book 11, p147

WILLS AND INVENTORIES

--John Thompson will, 1772: Culpeper County Will Book B, p75

--John Thompson inventory, 1772: Culpeper County Will Book B, p83

--John C. Grayson will, 1895: Culpeper County Will Book Z, p152

--John C. Grayson inventory, 1895: Culpeper County Will Book Z, p186

--James T. Hansbrough will, 1904: Culpeper County Will Book 3, p144

--Nannie T. Fry will, 1939: Culpeper County Will Book 16, p162

--Nannie T. Fry inventory and appraisement, 1939: Culpeper County Will Book 16, p182

SALUBRIA: an interpretation of its garden and landscape heritage

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