In the middle of April my sister Jill came to tour DC during her spring break from school,
so I met her in the city one day to tour Hillwood, the home of Marjorie Post.
Marjorie was quite a collector of art and dishes, especially from Russia.
This is an actual Faberge' egg, made for the Russian Royal family at the turn of the 19th century,
Some of the hundreds of antique dishes that Marjorie Post collected.
I usually try to pose with the pianos of the historic homes I visit.
Marjorie Post was the heir to the Post cereal fortune, and had many portraits of herself in the home.
The gardens were also very pretty. I toured the home in the spring many years ago when the azaleas were in bloom. This year we were a bit early for the azaleas, but some of the daffodils and tulips were still blooming.
On another day Kent and I went to tour the workshop, gardens and home of a famous artist who made his home in Stafford, Gari Melcher.
I purchased a copy of this painting by Gari Melcher of the birth of Jesus.
We were able to take pictures inside the workshop but not in the home.
This was one of his famous studies of a local Virginia woman.
The trees were in bloom and it was a lovely spring day.
The wisteria was also at the height of it's bloom.
On another day Kent and I went to tour some of the mansions along the James River during historic Virginia Garden Week.
We had another gorgeous spring day for our tour. The mansions we toured are all still privately owned.
One thing I love about touring homes during Garden week are the wonderful flower arrangements.
We were allowed to take photos in this home because the owner was there and she said it was okay.
Kent and I went on the homes tour with Karen Smith and Becky Reger from my Bible study group.
This was a pretty flowering vine on the outside of the home.
The next place we toured was the Shirley plantation, which has been in the same family since the early 1600's.
It's the closest to the James River.
This giant old tree is an impressive sight to the right of the mansion.
Our last stop was the Berkeley plantation, and for some reason I didn't get a picture of the front of the house.
Berkeley was used as a headquarters for the Union Army during the Civil War, so it has some cannon balls still lodged in the walls of the buildings.
Our last stop of the day was at the site of the historic Polegreen Church outside of Richmond.
It was destroyed by fire many years ago, so they've built a framework where it used to stand.
It's an unusual and memorable memorial.
It was the first non-Anglican church in the state of Virginia back in the mid-1700's, which is why it's remembered. There were some interesting religious historical information at the site and we're glad we took the time to stop by.
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