Historic Garden Week

February 8, 2022

2001 Tour Chairman Helen Pinckney,  The Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton

2002 Tour Chairman Meredith Scott, The James River Garden Club

2001 Historic Garden Week Preview and Business Report

2002 Historic Garden Week Preview and Business Report

Westend, located in Virginia’s Louisa County, was featured on the cover of the 2001 Historic Garden Week Guidebook. The antebellum mansion was built in 1849 under the supervision of Colonel James Magruder for Susan Dabney Morris Watson. Current homeowner Henry Taylor, Jr. is a direct descendant of Mrs. Watson.

Ticket sales exceeded $702,000, making 2001 the most financially successful tour to date. The HGW Chairman provided an entertaining look at her tour observations: an amazingly detailed topiary chess set with all the appropriate men; seeing a tour chairman talking furiously to her transportation chairman on a walkie-talkie when they looked up to find they were directly across the street from each other; an arrangement card that listed “mystery weed tree;” a green canoe full of red geraniums floating on a pond at the foot of a hill; meeting two men who had each opened three different houses for Historic Garden Week and the visitor who asked a hostess where the “erotic art” in the house was located, only to discover the Guidebook described “exotic art.”

HGW Executive Director Suzanne Munson suggested a “Take Your Husbands to Work Day” after one volunteer’s husband expressed surprise that the stunning flower arrangements contained real flowers. Another visitor was taken aback to see her grandmother’s portrait hanging proudly as an ancestor in the home of a complete stranger.

Pebbleton, the 18th-century home of Kay and Kent Van Allen in Bedford County, was featured on the cover of the 2002 Historic Garden Week Guidebook. The Colonial farmhouse was constructed in 1785 by Colonel Nicolas Davies on land he received from the King of England.

Final ticket sales were reported at $750,268, boosted by bus tours, group sales and advance ticket sales.

For the first time, Historic Garden Week tickets and Guidebooks were offered online for limited 2002 tours on an experimental basis. Another first for Historic Garden Week — state tour passes were given to 2002 homeowners in appreciation for their generosity.

Executive Director Suzanne Munson reported a call from the Director of Menopausal Tours, Specialty Travel for Women, whose motto is “no men, no kids and no whining,” asking for 2003 tour information for their newsletter, “Hot Flashes.” She also said to expect a visit in 2003 from a group of men from North Carolina who call themselves “Macho Gardeners.”