The annual Williamsburg Garden Club’s Home and Garden Tour celebrating Historic Garden Week will be held 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Tuesday, April 24. Tickets are $30 (or $25 if purchased in advance at Wild Birds Unlimited, G.Bates or Seasons of Williamsburg.) The properties open to the public will be decked in spring finery. Basset Hall at Colonial Williamsburg was for many years the Williamsburg home of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. It was bequeathed to Colonial Williamsburg in 1979. The house and most of the furnishings include many examples of Mrs. Rockefeller’s American folk art collection. It remains much as it was when the Rockefellers furnished it in the mid-1930s. It is open for Garden Week for the first time since 1961. Coke-Garrett House 465 East Basset Hall Nicholson Street. Stately evergreens, nut trees, and old boxwood enclose the area behind the Coke-Garrett House and lead to a flower border on the lower garden level. During the Civil War Dr. Garrett used the house and lawn as a hospital to treat wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. Palmer House, 430 E. Duke of Gloucester Street. The home is known for the apples that nestle in the “put-log holes” in its brick facade at Christmastime. A formal knot garden and Magnolia Grandiflora lure visitors to the backyard. Open for Garden Week by Patricia Ferguson and Robin Reed. President’s House at the College of William & Mary. The stately Georgian dwelling is the oldest official residence for a college president in the U.S. and has been home to 26 of the college’s 27 presidents. Completed in 1733, it has survived two wars, several fires, and occupation by military forces. The exterior is largely original, with exceptionally beautiful FlemWILLIAMSBURG MAGAZINE, APRIL 2012
ish Bond brickwork that has been copied throughout the campus. The President’s House and the adjacent boxwood garden are open for Historic Garden Week by President and Mrs. W. Taylor Reveley III. Sir Christopher Wren Building, College of William & Mary. The Wren Building was used initially as a barracks for Confederate forces that were converging on Williamsburg, and later as a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers. Open for Historic Garden Week by the College of William and Mary. Gillman Home and Garden, 601 Richmond Rd. Open for the first time for Historic Garden Week by Cindy and Tom Gillman. Hertzler-George Garden, 605 College Terrace. Featured in the August 2010 issue of “Better Homes and Gardens,” the Hertzler Garden was inspired by Linda’s love of Colonial Williamsburg gardens. Open for the first time for Historic Garden Week by Joe and Photo courtesy Williamsburg Garden Club Linda George Hertzler. Steele Home and Garden, 203 Harrison Avenue. Nestled beneath a pair of majestic water oak trees, this chalet-style cottage was one of the first homes built west of the W&M campus in 1920. Open for the first time for Historic Garden Week by Joseph Steele III. Other places of interest include Bruton Parish Church. In St. Mary’s Chapel are the 17th century Jamestown Communion Silver, the 18th century set given to Governor Botetourt in 1768 by King George III “for use in his private chapel,” and the newly restored Prayer Book used at Bruton in the 18th century. Mattey’s Garden at Matthew Whaley Elementary is listed on the National Garden Association’s Children’s Garden Registry and has hosted numerous groups from around the state. Mattey’s Garden will be open from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 41
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