Tip Toe Through The Tulips

Tip Toe Through The Tulips

Historic Garden Week will have a stop in Old Town Leesburg on Sunday, April 24, 1 – 5 p.m. and Monday, April 25, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. As part of America’s largest “Open House,” the Leesburg Garden Club invites you to stroll along Cornwall Street, the heart of Leesburg’s Historic District. Established in 1757 as the seat of Loudoun County, visitors are invited to make four stops, with each wayside featuring a charming late-18 th through 20 th century property with beautifully restored gardens. Tour proceeds fund the restoration and preservation of Virginia’s historic gardens and provide graduate level research fellowships for building comprehensive and ongoing records of historic gardens and landscapes in the Commonwealth and support the mission of the Garden Club of Virginia. So….on your mark, get set, go.

Garden Path at 21 Wirt Street, NW

21 Wirt Street, NW

This 1894 home is an excellent example of a Queen Anne-style house. It’s been modernized over the years by the current residents, only the fifth family to own the property. The wraparound porch, sun porch, spacious and light-filled interiors, unique mantelpieces, and blending of old and new furniture and art give this home its special character. The gardens maximize fragrance near windows and sitting areas and provide long-lasting color and interest throughout. They are filled with abundant spring bulbs and perennials, including mature tree peonies and weigelia. Several types of coral bells are used in the garden. The rear yard is framed by mature American boxwood and viburnum, creating a hedge for privacy. Flowering fruit trees, a vegetable garden, a small fish pond garden, statues and arbors are some of the additional treasures in the rear and side yards.

Garden Path at 209 Cornwall Street, NW

209 Cornwall Street, NW

The Colonial Revival home, designed by Joanne Tiffany, was built in 1950. It was constructed on the foundation of an early 19th century residence, and later used as the Black Cat Ordinary, which was destroyed by fire in 1948. The property was previously owned by Burr Powell Harrison, Jr., a renowned champion of historic and environmental preservation in Loudoun County, and his wife, Agnes Harrison, founder of Keep Loudoun Beautiful, member of the Leesburg and Fauquier- Loudoun garden clubs, and a board member of the Garden Club of Virginia. The current owners purchased the property in 2013 and completed an extensive renovation in 2015. It included the conversion to a geothermal heating and cooling system and the addition of a basement, east-side porch, large flagstone patio and two fountains. Their update also included the removal of a partial asphalt driveway in the backyard. Three large cisterns are buried beneath the rain garden in the southeast corner of the property to collect stormwater for irrigation. The half-acre lot features mature trees, Japanese holly, Chinese snowball viburnum and climbing roses. Two Japanese lilac trees provide fragrant blooms and shade on the rear patio. A row of 165-year-old boxwoods anchors the back of the property, while providing a four-season screen. Dogwoods, Amelanchier, hellebores, daffodils and tulips provide springtime blooms. The gardens, which appeal to pollinators, feature lavender, phlox, liatris, cardinal flower, and aromatic asters.

Garden Path at 211 Cornwall Street

211 Cornwall Street Garden

This home is an example of Federal-style architecture in Leesburg’s Historic District. Records indicate the original 2 ½-story brick section was constructed in 1788. A two-story frame addition was recognized in 2012 with a “Historic District Design Excellence Award” from the Loudoun County Joint Architectural Review Board. The formality and symmetry of the architecture is reflected throughout the exterior and gardens. The yard is organized according to four “rooms,” which are delineated by small ornamental trees, boxwoods, and yew hedges. The narrow side yard, framed with hellebores, star magnolia, dogwoods, and hydrangeas, draws visitors back toward the second area, which is bounded by the back porch, fountains, crabapple trees and a potting shed. The central formal garden, surrounding the focal sculpture of Diana the Huntress, follows a tranquil white and green color palette with peonies, hydrangea, white lavender, and roses. Beyond the tall yew hedges is a fourth “room,” which contains raised beds for vegetables, a cutting garden for seasonal flowers and a workshop, also built in 2011.

Garden Path at 215 Cornwall Street, NW

215 Cornwall Street, NW

The original portion of this Federal-style brick home was built in 1824 and included a front parlor, side hall with stairs leading to a second-floor bedroom, and a detached brick kitchen. 19th and 20thcentury expansions include a dining room connecting the main house to the original kitchen, a 1960s wing with a family room and bedrooms, and a guest cottage at the rear of the ¾-acre property. The seven-foot kitchen hearth is one of six fireplaces in the home. The foyer features an 18th century grandfather clock by Connecticut clockmaker Daniel Burnap. The current owners converted a rear porch into a breakfast room adjacent to the original kitchen and restored the brick patio designed by acclaimed landscape architect M. Meade Palmer. The smokehouse is used as the owners’ workshop; the icehouse below is used for garden storage. The gardens include boxwood, spring bulbs, and flowering trees. The recent addition of raised vegetable beds and a spacious chicken coop provide the owners with a steady supply of produce and eggs.

This walking tour is held rain or shine. Please wear comfortable walking shoes. When: Sunday, April 24, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. and Monday, April 25, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Advance tickets are $40 per person by mail or can be purchased at two Leesburg venues. To purchase tickets in advance: by mail, send by April 12 a self-addressed stamped business size envelope with check written to Leesburg Garden Club, PO Box 2006, Leesburg, VA 20177. At in-person Leesburg venues, go to Visit Loudoun, 112 G South Street or to the George C. Marshall International Center, 217 Edwards Ferry Road. Tickets also may be purchased online at vagardenweek.org. The day of event tickets are $50 per person at Tour Headquarters. leesburg@vagardenweek.org

For additional Old Town Leesburg tour and ticket information, visit leesburggardenclub.org. Tour Headquarters are located at St. James’ Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall Street, NW with public facilities available at Tour Headquarters and Leesburg Town Hall, 25 W. Market Street.