Elegant private homes and beautiful gardens that you will be able to see only once in your lifetime await you for one day in April in Alexandria, Va. On Saturday, April 19, six privately owned homes and gardens will be available for your enjoyment as part of the 75th anniversary of “Historic Garden Week in Virginia,” held April 19–27 throughout the state.

Your ticket for the Alexandria tour includes a brochure, map and admission to six additional places of historic interest. Homes on the tour have been selected for their beauty in addition to their historical significance. You’ll be able to walk back in time, letting your imagination carry you to the 18th and 19th centuries. If all that walking and visiting makes you thirsty, tea and other refreshments will be provided at Historic Christ Church, 121 North Columbus Street, just blocks from the tour sites.

One of the homes featured on the tour this year is the classic Georgian “Craik House,” which was built in 1787 for George Washington’s private secretary and physician during the Revolutionary War, Dr. James Craik. The two front rooms of the house are where Dr. Craik maintained his medical practice. The home’s garden reflects 18th-century design and features marble steps salvaged from Blair House (the guest house of American presidents) during a mid-20th-century remodeling. Nearby is a 1780s house that has been enlarged many times, most recently during a 1992 renovation by renowned neoclassical architect Allen Greenberg, designer of the Diplomatic Rooms of State Department.

Also nearby is a beautiful residence built between 1763 and 1785, which sits on one of the largest lots in Old Town Alexandria. The home features an original George London sculpture of Thomas Jefferson, and in a large sitting room, an original Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington and a Baccarat chandelier. Numerous modern amenities have been cleverly hidden away to preserve the historic feel of the home. Its garden showcases a cherry tree, dogwoods, large magnolias, a copper beech, and English boxwood. 

Modern artwork is featured in another home on the tour, built between 1812 and 1814. The home was leased to a businessman whose son became the first African-American schoolteacher in the City of Alexandria. The son later purchased this home in which he grew up. Its extensive art collection includes works by Monestier, Bonnie Shelor, Ann Barbieri and Han Erni.

A nearby 1802 home was said to be the place where Robert E. Lee accepted command of the Confederate Army of Virginia. This home retains much of its original woodwork and interior design, including a breathtaking central spiral staircase. Its 40-foot ballroom has been separated into two seating areas.

The site of another house on the tour was once used by James Green to store lumber for his cabinet-making business. Green later branched out into real estate, coal and lumber, and by 1850 became the wealthiest man in Alexandria. The garden features traditional southern plantings.

As you enter each home, docents will greet you to provide details of historic interest, helping you to experience what it might have been like to live in that home’s time period. Exquisite flower arrangements created by garden club members, using flowers from the homes’ respective gardens and vases to coordinate with each room, will grace each home.  

Additional places of historic interest on the tour include the 1785 Lee-Fendall house, which presents an intimate study of 19th century family life; the Carlyle House Historic Park built in 1753; River Farm, which features extensive colorful gardens and a children’s garden; George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens (see T&G Winter ‘08 issue); Woodlawn, containing fine Federal period furnishings; and Gunston-Hall Plantation, the home of Virginia Bill of Rights author George Mason, containing furnishings from the Colonial and Federal periods.

Among other Virginia locations holding Historic Garden Week events are James River Plantations, Charlottesville, Ashland-Hanover, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, Hampton-Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. See www.vagardenweek.org for more information.

“Historic Garden Week in Virginia” is the oldest and largest statewide house and garden tour in the nation. It draws more than 30,000 attendees each year. The event is sponsored by the Garden Club of Virginia, an active association of 47 garden clubs whose members include more than 3,300 civic leaders from around the Commonwealth. Alexandria’s Historic Garden Week event is sponsored by the Hunting Creek Garden Club and the Garden Club of Alexandria, Chairs Dottie Hawkins and Timmi Wood. Proceeds for Historic Garden Week in Virginia statewide are used to restore historic Virginia landscapes and gardens that are open to the public on a regular basis. They have financed more than 40 restorations. 

Alexandria’s Historic Garden Week event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 19. For more information, call 703-838-4200 or visit www.vagardenweek.org. The information center for the event is located at the Ramsay House Alexandria Visitors’ Center, 221 King Street, Alexandria, Va., 22314.  You can get information on historic properties, restaurants, hotels and parking meter passes for out-of-town visitors. Restroom facilities are available at the Ramsay House. You can purchase tickets online or on the day of the tour at any of the houses open for the tour or at the Ramsay House.