Virginia Country: Inside the Private Historic Homes of the Old Dominion

by Betsy Wells Edwards

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684837501
• ISBN13: 9780684837505
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 10.3" x 10.4"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful pictorial of the Old Dominion homes!

Well put together historical representation of the plantations and the homes of the early settlers of the Virginia Colonies. It is so important to see and appreciate that which still exists of our heritage in the early Virginia settlements. Something we all should be very proud of is the way these beautiful homes have been restored and protected.

Beautiful pictorial survey

Wonderfully photographed, just the right amount of text, good cross section of houses around the state.

Lavish treatment of private Virginia estates.

This book transported me back to my home state of Virginia (my Florida driver's license is only 14 months old) in an almost visceral way. I recommend it not only to Virginians but to anybody who wants to travel through a doorway into a more genteel place and time.Filled with lavish full-color photographs and satisfying historical descriptions, this is the kind of coffee-table sized book that you want to curl up with and linger over. The exteriors of the homes, photographed to reveal telling architectural detail, are also shown in their natural surroundings. You see the Virginia rivers that flow beyond the front lawns; the lavish beds of tiger lilies in full bloom; the grazing horses in pasture; the paper-white dogwoods blossoms at their peak in spring; the shade-dappled pea-gravel paths hemmed in by generations-old boxwoods that you can fairly smell. One estate in particular - Westover - reminded me of many childhood visits to family friends who lived in a very similar faux plantation house named Wilton on the banks of the James River in the Varina district of Henrico County. The interiors of the houses are revealed in full clarity. Entire rooms are photographed, as well as details of construction and furnishing: chair rails, paneling, china settings, chandeliers, secret doorways, period furniture, fabrics and paintings on the wall. You feel as if you would like to sit in that bay window and savor the view to the outside; relax in that chair by that fire; explore that winding spiral staircase all the way to the top; play a hand of cards at that card table with the silk-inlaid top; drink brandy out of that crystal goblet; sleep in that four-poster bed under that bedspread; run your hand over that polished bannister railing.The accompanying essays convey the history of each house, its architectural uniqueness, and the chain of ownership into the present day. Long enough to be informationally satisfying but brief enough to retain reader interest (no mean feat!), the prose serves to cre! ate a bridge into a past that has nonetheless been kept intriguingly alive by the stewardship of the current owners of these houses and grounds. The 27 homes profiled, built during the historical periods of English Colonial (1690-1720), Colonial (1720-90), Federal (1790-1830) and Antebellum (1830-60) are scattered through Virginia's Tidewater, Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountain areas.Breck Montague, owner of the English Colonial estate Toddsbury in Tidewater Virginia's Gloucester County, says that "When I turn down the lane on my way home, I turn my car radio off and roll down my window. I smell the humus of the forest, and I feel the peace and tranquility of the place." Indeed, that feeling of place and quietness permeates this entire 215-page book, and time spent with this sumptuous volume is practically guaranteed to lower your blood pressure. Because Toddsbury and the other homes in Virginia Country are in private hands and not on public tour, this book will