Green Plains

Green Plains









Maria M. Debye-Saxinger











Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship 2010

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Green Plains Property LEGEND 30

1. Cedar Drive

16. Duck House

2. Oak Drive

17. Orchard

3. Entrance Walk

18. Arbor

4. Pecan Tree

19. Haha

5. Main Walk

20. Old Well

6. Main House

21. Cottages

7. Terrace

22. Peony Garden

8. Pool House

23. The Cove

9. Pool

24. Tennis Court

10. Scalloped Wall

25. Pier

11. North Wall

26. Office

12. South Wall

27. Farm Sheds

13. Garden Entrance

28. Horse Stable

14. Inner Garden

29. Barn

15. Garden Shed

30. Caretaker House

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50’

100’

Copy r i ght© 2010byT heGa r denCl ubof Vi r gi ni a . Al l Ri ght sRes er v ed. Repr oduc t i on: Al l ma t er i a l c ont a i nedher ei ni st hei nt el l ec t ua l pr oper t yoft heGa r denCl ubof Vi r gi ni ae x c eptwher enot ed. Per mi s s i onf orr epr oduc t i on, e x c eptf orper s ona l us e , mus tbeobt a i nedf r om: T heF el l ows hi pCommi t t ee , Cha i r T heGa r denCl ubof Vi r gi ni a T heKent Va l ent i neHous e 12E a s tF r a nk l i nS t r eet Ri c hmond, VA23219 www. gc v i r gi ni a . or g

Green Plains









Maria M. Debye-Saxinger











Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship 2010

PREFACE As the Rudy J. Favretti Fellow for the Garden Club of Virginia of 2010, I present this volume that begins to unravel and piece together the many stories of the Green Plains property located in Mathews County (former Gloucester County), Virginia. It begins to describe its appeal as a home to five families over the past 214 years through maps, illustrations, drawings, photographs and text. Few counties in Virginia have such historically rich gemstones. Fewer yet have architectural and landscape architectural elements incorporated within their boundaries predating the 1800s with such a vibrant history. It is my hope that this project can begin to shed light on the history of such a magical place with an enchanting view. Using old photographs as means for analysis of the various phases of the house and garden as well as research of texts and maps combined with information gathered from an in-person interview with Francis H. Cabot himself and the current owner Dorothy S. Long, I depict in detail some of the specific elements about the property and how they came to be as well as drawings and photographs of existing conditions. Using people who have lived at the site as resources for verbal understanding of the story of its history combined with photography dating as far back as 1935, I share the critical moments in time that have shaped the character and made Green Plains what it is today.















Maria Debye-Saxinger, Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship Recipient 2010









To Frank and Dorothy.

CONTENTS PREFACE

5-8 Introduction



9-14 Setting and Historical Context



15 Timeline



18-25 CHAPTER I: The Main House



26-29 CHAPTER II: The South Lawn



34-36 CHAPTER IV: The Pool House and the Fishing Pier



37-40 CHAPTER V: The Garden and its Shed, Scalloped Wall, North and South Wall



43-46 CHAPTER VI: The Orchard, Arbor and Haha



47-50 51-52

CHAPTER VII: The Farm







55-56 NOTES







57 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS





58-65 APPENDIX A: EXISTING PLANTINGS AND BUILT ELEMENTS







66-74 APPENDIX B: AERIAL SURVEY MATERIALS AND MAPS



75-76 END NOTES



79 IMAGE CREDITS

30-33 CHAPTER III: Cottages and the North Lawn

CHAPTER VIII: The Caretakers’ Quarters 53 EXISTING CONDITIONS PLAN 54 AFTERWORD

77-78 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION

Green Plains is situated along the North River just above Mobjack Bay and is one of the

most prestigious properties in Mathews County, Virginia. Currently the 642-acre property is owned by one family. Originally, the Peyton family gave the property to the Roy family in the late 1700s. The historic Georgian style home and celebrated scalloped wall are among the site’s treasures.

One of the most magnificent views is visible from multiple vantage points looking out to-

wards Portugal. In 1923 Anne Seddon Rutherfoord Johnson who once lived at Green Plains wrote “the River is like an inland lake, and on a bright day the handsome homes are reflected in the water all along the shores, as if in a mirror.”i It is only natural then that such a beautiful landscape and main house was erected by James H. Roy,1 a mathematician who designed the house and garden and later lived in the main house upon its completion about 1798.ii A series of semi-circles are the basic geometric forms of the scalloped wall, unlike any other of its kind in America. Although the property has survived several major hurricanes in its lifetime, its authenticity as an historic house and landscape is unparalleled.

As a home, the property has been owned and lived in by two generations of the Roys,

the Cabots and two generations of the Longs. During the 1800s, the main house was brick with stucco and two porticos above each entrance. Two wings on each side were added in 1838 by William H. Roy.2 A lavish garden complete with a series of pathways and octagonal and circular shaped garden beds, is said to have been surrounded by a scalloped wall. Within each of the scallops were raised beds and rosebushes within each one. A tall pecan tree, thrived then in the | 5

“The river is like an inland lake, and

18th Century as does still today, along the water’s edge of the cove.iii

on a bright day the handsome homes



are reflected in the water all along the

Cabot Family, a premier Boston family, heard about it through their real estate broker Florence

shores, as if in a mirror...”

Reed and purchased it in 1935. They immediately planted boxwood and with the help of Mrs.

The property was unoccupied during the later part of the 1800s and early 1900s until the

Francis H. Cabot’s brother, Edward J. (Eddie) Mathews3 and his sister Mrs. Francis H. Cabot4

---Anne Seddon Rutherfoord Johnson, 1923

quickly designed and planted the gardens and grounds and renovated the main house. Mrs. Francis H. Cabot herself later wrote about their efforts in Town and Country Magazine. A terraced patio off of the west wing which makes for a smooth transition from the living room to the outdoors was designed as well as circular sod steps to the water side of the main house. Other major changes included the roof pitch which was made steeper and the outbuildings were restored in their original locations.

When Mr. and Mrs. Augustus C. Long acquired the property from the Cabots in 1959,

the gardens and outbuildings were again refurbished. Mr. Augustus C. Long5 added a library that was designed by Clarence Huff was added to the west wing of the main house over what was the transitional terrace during the Cabots’ stay. The Gardens were enhanced with perennials with color interest. The kitchen house was converted into a pool house where a pool was also added in the early 1970s. A large tennis court was put in just east of the main driveway. A long pathway was added parallel to the scalloped wall leading up to the house with daffodils planted along each side. The interior of the house was restored during the 1970s by James Cogar,6 who was long the curator of furnishings for Colonial Williamsburg. 7 |



Although there is no longer any trace of boxwood, beds of peonies surround the main

house arranged similarly to where the boxwood used to be. The brick work around the house is still in existence today. Outbuildings line the cove to the north of the main house in their original locations and the scalloped wall still stands. Most of the structures built during the time the Cabots lived on the property still exist as well as the designed brick work and landscape architectural elements. View of the cove and the North River in the distance from the main driveway. Photograph taken in 2010.



Dorothy S. Long7 and her son Augustus J. (A.J.) Long currently live on the property. They

have roughly 17 chickens in the barns, ducks and retired race horses. The stables and pastures give thoroughbreds a second life after retiring from the race track. Plantings within the past ten years have been added to the south lawn including flowering trees and perennials marking significant areas within the garden including white Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’), Peonies (Paeonia), Hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) and Roses (Rosa) among others add to the color all over. Trees that were planted between the 1940s and 50s stand tall on both the north Main drive along the cove. Photograph taken February 8, 1938.

and south lawns and the Cedar allée (Juniperus virginiana) and Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) drive mark the drive to the main house.

Both old and new plantings and structures, big and small, describe the character of the

site and reveal a most vibrant home that with each owner, takes on new identities. As water levels rise and hurricanes come and go, it is ever more important to understand the history of the site in order to preserve and prepare for its future.











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SETTING AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT As early as 1608, Captain John Smith and his colonists explored up and down the Chesapeake Bay area surveying the land and water in what was at the time considered to be great detail and with much accuracy. It is from the early 1600s then that the area’s documentation starts. Before the founding of Mathews County, the Middle Peninsula in 1649 was “declared open to settlement. Within two years the population on the north side of the USGS map from depicting the Green Plains and major architectural features.

York River had grown to the point that Gloucester County was created out of the northern portion of York County, one of Virginia’s original shires. Although the legislative act authorizing the establishment of Gloucester County has not come to light, a May 21, 1651, patent for acreage on the north side of the York River indicates that the land being claimed lay within ‘Gloster’ County. This patent was issued only two months after Sir William Berkeley had surrendered the Virginia colony to representatives of England’s Commonwealth government.”iv Mathews County was later established in 1791 as a separate county from Gloucester. To this day both remain their own township, but share early history.

Soon after the establishment of Gloucester County, James H. Roy acquired the

land for building his to-be house from Sir John Peyton of Isleham, whose grandchildren he tutored. The tract of land was originally property of the Peytons as an extension of their family estate along the North River and given to Roy from the Peytons estate when he married Elizabeth Booth8 of Belleville. This would then become the site of Green Plains. Building of the main house began as early as 1795 and remained in the Roy family for 140 years.v 9 |

Burtons Bay

Chesapeake Bay

Mathews Green Plains Ware Neck

R ork Y

Severn

Hog Island Bay

Winter Harbor Outlet Bay

r ive

Mobjack Bay

Gloucester Point

Williamsburg

South Bay

J es

am r

ive R

Hampton

Newport News VIRGINIA

N Norfolk

5 Miles

Virginia Beach

Illustrative map showing the context of the Green Plains property and its proximity to nearby significant places.

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During this time, it is important to note that the courthouse was burned to the ground

and along with it many important documents that may have exposed information about the area. While the extent of trouble incursions may have caused, may not be documented, “almost every barn and mill in the county was burned to the ground and almost all the horses and livestock were carried off, not to mention more personal valuables.”vi Frequent visitations by Federal boats and cavalry occurred up and down the coast in the area, making those close to the water especially vulnerable to these stops, often for military purposes.

As Green Plains it exists along the shore of the North River where Mathews and

Gloucester counties are divided, it is remarkable how it has endured over time. In 1923, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord Johnson 9, the first wife of William H. Roy who lived at Green Plains, writes, “during the War Between the States, Green Plains was ravaged by the Federal troops. The Gunboats came up the river and marauding parties scoured the neighborhood, plundering and destroying all they could not take with them. Mr. Roy died before this period and his widow and younger daughters lived in a constant state of anxiety. They had to endure stoically the sight of their most precious possessions being stolen before their eyes, or be insulted by officers, as well as men”. She also mentions that liquor was stored in the basement, in an area that was tapped and searched but “it was not discovered, or worse than insults might have resulted.”vii

The basement of the main house today is still supported by hand-laid bricks. The east

and west wings are raised and several rooms within the framework of the larger structure separate different areas, each which houses rooms for different functions such as what might have been for 11 |

storage of goods, especially useful during prohibition.

Due to the proximity of the main house and garden to the waters’ edge and exposure to

southern storms, the property has been subject to storms throughout its existence, some more damaging than others. A series of hurricanes and tidal waves have been recorded in the area as early as 1821: a tropical cyclone in 1825, the Centennial Gale of 1876 that caused some of the highest tides seen in the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Hurricane of 1933, and more recently Hurricane Isabel in 2003 and Hurricane Ernesto in 2006.viii Each points to a time when damages to the house and garden occurred. They have lead to the uprooting of trees, and flooding, not to mention salt water intrusion along the edge of the property and erosion. Coping with these forces of nature resulted in changing the main house’s water table, renovating the outbuildings, adding a sea wall and reconstructing the pier. The old brick walls have been rebuilt multiple times.

The main house has been renovated and changed over time. The changes including

adding wings and libraries and changing the roof pitch. The interior of the main house has also had its own make-over several times. The garden and walls have taken on different looks that range from formal Victorian Gardens, to an English box garden and then a less formal, but more colorful blooming arrangement of pink and red perennials. The outbuildings have been preserved in their location, but have taken on new functions such as pool house and cottage. The farm is now intended for retired race-horses and other pets. A row of Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana) border the garden to the east while also lining the driveway as one approaches the entrance to the main house. Although there is no evidence today of any formal brick wall that might have bordered | 12

Aerial illustration of the property of Green Plains as it is today along the North River. KEY

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property line

the east of the garden, it has been suggested that the garden was once surrounded by the wall. And so, it is from the main drive as one approaches the main house that one has their first glimpse of the inner garden space and scalloped wall in the distance.

However great the destruction each time, both political or physical and naturally

occurring damages, they have all been minimized by the dedication and love of place of the families that have owned Green Plains and the many helping hands who have brick by brick repaired damages and rebuilt fallen elements. This speaks volumes of the appreciation for its historic value as a property beyond just the main house, garden, outbuildings or farm, but as a piece of history that survives with all of its parts functioning in ways best suited for its owners who make it their own. Dorothy S. Long with retired racehorse in the large north pasture of Green Plains in 2000.

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Hurricane in coast. Tidal Wave observed at Chincoteague. Tropical Cyclone.

setbacks

1634

1651

1791 1795 1798 1821

1825

Centennial Gale causes highest tide in generations from Chesapeake Bay region.

1838

1876

The Great Hurricane.

1920s 1933 1935 1937

1938-39

owners

CABOT FAMILY

ROY FAMILY

Formation of Virginia Counties.

major architectural and landscape element changes

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Florence Reed inMr. and Mrs. forms Cabot Fam- Higginson Cabot ily of Green Plains purchase property. with Postcard and Photos.

Gloucester Mathews County County formed. separates from Gloucester County.

James H. Roy acquires property from the Peyton Estate along the North River and begins building Green Plains main house and designs the scalloped wall.

Green Plains main house construction completed for James H. Roy and Elizabeth Booth.

William H. Roy adds east and west wings to the central area of the main house.

Scalloped wall rebuilt on original foundation.

Boxwood Garden in the Garden planted as a nursery. Boxwood added as focal points in critical areas. Laying out of brick pathways, entrance walks, sod steps and terrace added. Renovations to cottages and main house. Barns and Caretaker’s Quarters added. Terrace added off of west wing.

Hurricane Isabel.

1940-58

1959

1970s

1998-1999

2000-2001

2003

Hurricane Ernesto.

2006

LONG FAMILY Mr. and Mrs. C. Augustus Long purchase Green Plains from the Cabots.

Boxwood filled in around Pecan tree and along pathways. Ivy clippings added to facade of house as decoration and to mask newly added bricks on facade of main house.

Garden trellis added. Brick pathways built inside garden. Daffodil walk added to the north lawn. Tennis court and pool added. Pool house burns down and is rebuilt. Renovation of cottages and sheds.

Fences and horse rings constructed around pastures. Cow barn redesigned into horse barn and hay storage.

Pier and sea wall reconstructed.

Orchard and Arbor added north of the garden. Trees along the wall cause damage to scallops and to the north wall entrance gate. Perennials including Gladiolas, Cannas and Lilies added to the inner garden.

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Waterfront: 1. Main house in 1935 as the Cabot family arrived on the property. 2. Renovations to the waterfront, June 1938. 3. Waterfront facade with shutters on windows and completed sod steps, March 1939. 4. South facade of main house in the 1970s with plantings along foundation and water table. 5. Waterfront side of main house as it is today, 2010.

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Landfront: 6. Main house in 1935 as the Cabot family arrived on the property. 7. Renovations to the north facade, June 1938. 8. Land front facade with boxwood focal point at center and open lawn in front, February 1942. 9. Main approach to house in the 1970s after Daffodil Walk has been added. 10. Land front facade of main house as it is today, 2010.

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CHAPTER I The Main House

Postcard from Florence Reed to Mr. and Mrs. Francis H. Cabot introducing them to the Green Plains property circa 1935.

As one approaches the main house itself, you become directed via an entrance road around to the east of the main house itself and then emerge from first an allée of Cedar trees (Juniperus virginiana) and then again out of an allee of Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana). Francis H. Cabot describes the initial experience of the view of the main house such that, “one glimpse[s] the façade and then [is] forced to rediscover the house by being routed around the garden and parking in an oyster shell courtyard and then walking on the brick entrance path with the giant pecan in the background.”ix The brick walk appears before the visitor as they approach the land front door. While the main house was being constructed in 1795 through 1798 the Roys are said to have lived in a small brick building no longer in evidence today as they awaited the completion of their new house and planning of the garden and surroundings grounds. The main house was designed to have a large central building with attic and cellar. The wings would be one story, while the central building was two stories high. A main hall laid out in pine would run through from north to south with rooms to each side. A stairway with two landings that would become a magnificent entrance area and be surrounded by paneled woodwork.x Additonal east and west wings to the central building would not be added until 1838 by Roy’s son, William H. Roy.xi Also, a window seat right of the living room became a cupboard. “The great central hall, with its magnificent staircase; the deeply recessed windows, with window seats; the chandeliers, the old mantels and paneling; the great fireplaces; the priceless antiques; the handsome oil paintings; the splendid library; all these are only a few of the gestures which contribut[ed] to the beauty and charm of Green Plains”. As it is clear from descriptions, the main house was crafted with the utmost care to architectural detail. When Mr. and Mrs. Francis H. Cabot heard of Green Plains in a card from their Real Estate agent Mr. Florence Reed and upon their first visit, Mrs. Francis H. Cabot writes, “the place, long uninhabited, and seen first on a dull February day, had none of the romantic attraction of its neighbor [Auburn]; it was shabby and colorless under the winter sky. The house was of brick, painted pallid cream, a | 18

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2 1. Main house in 1938 before renovations and still with stucco over bricks. 2. Maine house and entrance walk with kitchen couryard off of east wing, November 1938. 3. Main house and entrance area as it exists today with view towards the Pecan tree (Carya illinoensis).

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3 nice hip-roofed oblong to which mean and stunted wings had been added.”xiii Renovations to the main house included the removal of paint from all of the facades, building up the east and west wings, and enlarging chimneys. Renovations were well due as the Great Storm of 1933 had struck just a few years prior and remodeling would have to be finished before they moved into their new home. An immediate change was the lowering of the west wing three feet and the addition of new windows. In addition, the north façade, or water front of the house was completely remodeled. This is evident in the mortar when comparing the north and south facades of the main house. The south side is original. Francis H. (Frank) Cabot10 recalls that “there was little, if any, work done to on the waterside.”xiv Cabot also describes the windows as having been intact, but suggests that the shutters to the North side were added only to that side. For these renovations to the main house, Edward J. (Eddie) Mathews was the architect, but no formal drawings and plans have survived.

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4. View from Entrance Pathway towards driveway and Fishing Pier as it is today. Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) in the distance. 5. Entrance Pathway and driveway with focal points and boxwood lining pathways, January 1939. 6. Pecan tree, (Carya illinoensis) from the entrance pathway of brick looking towards the cove, photo taken 2010. 7. Installation of the brick entrance pathways, January 1939.

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4 7 1. Pecan tree (Carya illinoensis) December 28, 1937. 2. Pecan tree (Carya illinoensis) in 1941. 3. Pecan tree (Carya illinoensis) as it stands today. 4. Libraray wing of the Green Plains main house. 5. West wing before the library was added taken in 1946. 6. West wing and Library with terrace as it exists today. 7. Currie Cabot sitting on terracing outside the west wing in February 1942. 8. Francis H. Cabot with puppy, 1950s.

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Ivy (Hedera helix) growing up the facade of the main house was added as a detail to the renovated architecture to both the north and south facades “with Eddie’s approval as a way to hide the brand new replacement brick after the façade fell down.”xv Clipped panels between the main windows on the north facade are depicted through photographs from the early 1940s.xvi The waterfront side of the main house was added to with a set of semicircular steps that were simple in form and did not take away from the view of the River in front. The sod steps and the terracing to the west wing and the brick entrance pathways and patio space around the land front entrance were all landscaping designed by Edward J. Mathews. According to Cabot, these designs were simple extensions and additions to the architecture, as not to disrupt the peaceful and restful setting. Cabot recollects all plantings that accentuated and lined the pathways and focal points as his mother Currie Cabot’s doing.xvii

Illustration depicting the waterfront of Green Plains main house. The east (right) and west (left) wings were added in 1938 by William H. Roy. The Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) in the front was planted by the Cabot family.

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The entrance walk which one would approach from the land front, and still does, was heavily planted along each side with English box as borders and focal points. The brick pathway tapers off into a narrower brick pathway leading to the giant and quite possibly the largest Pecan tree (Carya illinoensis) of Tidewater. The tree still thrives today with an astounding overall circumference of 21 feet MAIN WALK

ENTRANCE WALK DRIVEWAY

POOL HOUSE

MAIN HOUSE KITCHEN COURTYARD TERRACE

POOL SOD STEPS

SHED

WELL

PLAN OF THE MAIN HOUSE AND ITS IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS 23 |

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PLANTS Acer rubrum Buxus sempervirens Carya illinoensis Fargesia sp. Hosta sp. Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’ Magnolia grandiflora Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. Prunus sp. Quercus sp. Rosa sp. Spartina sp.

standing roughly 125 feet tall. The tree can be easily made out from other trees near it from even a mile away across the River. The view from the main house played an important role in the overall feeling of the place. Francis H. Cabot states that “unobstructed or focused vistas have been and continue to be very important to [the Cabot family]… and that “the vista from the front stoop over the lawn below the canopy of old trees towards the entrance road was splendid (with the road extending to infinity).”xviii It is most remarkable how Green Plains was in the 1800s one of the “few estates which still remain[ed] in the family of its original owners”xix and “kept up so as to be a pleasure to all who go there” and to this day has only been owned and lived in by five families over the course of the past 214 years.

Illustration of the land front view of Green Plains main house. This picture also shows the Pecan tree (Carya illinoensis) to the right and smaller Pecan to the left. The pool house is in the distance to the left.

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6 1. Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) on the South Lawn. 2. Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) in bloom visible from the Sod Steps. 3. Oak tree (Quercus sp.) directly south of the steps. 4. View of Green Palins main house from the North River. 5. Aerial of Green Plains South Lawn taken in the 1940s. 6. Aerial of the main house and Scalloped Wall taken around 2000.

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CHAPTER

II

The South Lawn

Many trees and shrubs exist on the lawn today. The North River is just beyond the Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) straight ahead or past the white Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’) row to the left when viewing from the sod steps. Before the bigger trees that make up the canopy and define areas of the yard were planted, Mrs. Francis H. Cabot writes about her hopes and ideas about what it might turn out to be. She writes, “our dreams began to picture a place that combined the beauties of every old Virginia house and garden we had seen.. In that day six-inch box bushes grew in our imaginations into immediate opulence, a tulip-poplar sapling…. An infant of magnolias spread vast shadows in our minds.”xx She discovered, however, the southern climate of her imagination where every plant she and her husband had pictured flourishing with ease would prove to be more difficult in reality. As much effort as it took however, standing tall and wide on the lawn today are those plantings which she mentions above, all at Green Plains. On the south lawn stand five Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) averaging 8 feet in circumference. Elsewhere on the property is a large Tulip-poplar (Tulipifera liriodendron) and other Magnolias as well. Each pathway and important focal point was accented at that time with Boxwood, albeit only surviving with protective structures in the winter time. An Oak tree (Quercus sp.) also thrives on the lawn; just south of the soft steps and Hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) flourish in a thick border to make a more privately covered and protected space. | 26

DRIVEWAY

MAIN HOUSE

POOL HOUSE

TERRACE COVE

POOL SOD STEPS SHED

SOUTH LAWN WELL

POSTS

SEA WALL

NORTH RIVER

PLAN OF THE SOUTH LAWN FROM THE MAIN HOUSE 27 |

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PLANTS Acer rubrum Buxus sempervirens Carya illinoensis Cypress sp. Fargesia sp. Gleditsia triacanthos Hydrangea paniculata Ilex opaca Juniperus virginiana Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’ Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Magnolia grandiflora Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. Quercus sp. Spartina sp. Syringa sp.

Illustration of the South Lawn with a view towards the North River.

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1. Aerial photograph of the cottage, shed and Peony Garden revealing the original Boxwood design. 2. Photograph of the North Lawn cottages from the Cove. 3. VIew of the Peony Garden and cottage looking south. 4. Original structure on North Lawn taken in April 1937. 5. Cottage and Box Garden taken in the 1970s. 6. Restored cottages and shed photograph in snow taken in January 1942.

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CHAPTER III Cottages and the North Lawn

The small outbuildings are located on the north lawn across from the Scalloped Wall and Garden including a shed, a cottage and a duck house. True to history, there were and still are innumerable outbuildings. However, with the exception of the conical-shaped duck house, the ones that exist are of wood. Those that were once made of brick are no longer in existence. Anne Seddon Rutherfoord Johnson records that there used to be a carpenter’s shop, weaving room, tanning house, one of the conical-shaped ice housesxxi so often seen in Tidewater Virginia. The small cottage that now stands along the west border of the North Lawn by the cove was originally a slave quarters. In the 1940s, the small house was re-done to be an office by the Cabots. The office later became a cottage renovated by the Long family in the 1970s, complete with bedroom furniture and toys. Now the house is un-occupied, but is still a cottage. Just outside of it and to its north is a box-garden designed area. Although the Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) that once outlined the pathways are not longer there, Peonies take their place. The circular brick duck house to its north is a replica of its predecessor garden shed located along the scalloped wall to the east. It is made of brick and has a diameter of about 19’ and was added by the Cabots in the 1940s and is where the “ducks would waddle down to the water.”xxii No longer on the lawn are the two small white cottages or the water tower. They have not existed on the property since the Cabots purchased it and began renovations to the other buildings. As shown in photographs from the 1930s through the late 1950s, the North Lawn in between the outbuildings and garden was bare and open, with the exception of some large trees such as the Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) that today has a circumference of 17 feet. Also currently on the lawn, a long brick walk that stretches the length of the north lawn to the entrance of the main house and parallel to the garden wall is an added approach to the house. Mr. Augustus C. Long, who lived for many years in Holland and was a Dutch-knight brought Daffodil bulbs back with him from abroad and had them planted along the Daffodil Walk.xxiii Although the boxwood that once marked a focal point at the center of the entrance brick patio to the house did not survive, this added walk leads one to the land front entrance both visually and by providing a footpath. | 30

WELL COVE

SHED GARDEN SHED

PEONY GARDEN

SCALLOPED WALL

COTTAGE

DAFFODIL WALK

GARDEN ENTRANCE

SHED

LAWN

GARDEN ENTRANCE BRICK ENTRANCE

MAIN HOUSE

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PLAN OF THE NORTH LAWN AND COTTAGES

N

ENTRANCE WALK

PLANTS Acer rubrum Buxus sempervirens Carya illinoensis Cornus florida Ilex opaca Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Ligustrum japonicum Liriodendron tulipifera Maclura pomifera Magnolia grandiflora Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. Pyrus calleryana Pyrus sp. Quercus rubra Rosa sp. Ulmus parviflora

Illustration of the North Lawn and cottages including the shed, the cottage and the duck house. The Peony Garden is situated in-between the cottage (center) and the circular brick shed.

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1

2

3

4

6

5 1. Pier April 1937 when it extended from the South Lawn. 2. View of the second constructed Pier, January 6th, 1940 3. Renovation to pool house, April 1937. 4. Fencing and old pool house before the pool, November 1938. 5. Approach to the old kitchen house after restoration, May 28, 1939. 6. Fishing Pier as it is today, view from upstairs in the Pool House. 7. American Egret (Ardea alba) on the Fishing Pier. 8. Pool house as it exists today. 9. View of the pool house and sea wall from the North River, 2010.

33 |

7 8

9

CHAPTER IV The Pool House and the Fishing Pier

Originally the kitchen house, there used to be a Dutch oven where all main cooking was prepared for the Roy family in the main house fewer than 90 feet away. The “out-of-doors kitchen had an immense fireplace-crane, and a Dutch oven and, of course, in the good old days, a ‘tin kitchen’ where huge saddles of mutton and haunches of venison were roasted before the great fire of logs” and “on either side of the house were ‘strikers’ for the house servants, each one having an especial number, and it needed twenty-one strikes to complete the tally in the days before 61’-65’.”xxiv Later in the 1930s when the Cabots purchased the property this was the first house they renovated and lived in before moving into the main house. This gave the Cabot family more time to renovate the big house. There used to be a porch where one could sit and look out at the view of the north river. Today this house functions as a pool house with a small fence, bench for sitting and pool shed both converted by Augustus C. Long in the early 1970s. The main house has been added to in the form of a glassed-in porch. After the house was converted into a pool house under Augustus C. Long it burned in a fire in the early 1970s, but was rebuilt to look the way it did in its precise location. The pier was originally located just south of the lawn at the main houses’ waterfront, but now has been re-built and moved to a second location closer to the driveway, just north of the pool house. Dorothy S. Long extended the pier to ultimately be roughly 350 feet in length in early 2000. The view in the distance looks across the Mobjack back and out into the Chesapeake. Sometimes a White Egret (Ardea alba) can be found spending time on the pier enjoying the magnificent water scene.

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PIER

DRIVEWAY

POOL HOUSE

POOL

SHED

PLAN OF POOL HOUSE, POOL AREA AND FISHING PIER

35 |

N

PLANTS Fargesia sp. Magnolia grandiflora Miscanthus sp. Rosa sp. Spartina sp. Zelkova serrata

Illustrations of the pool house, pool area and fishing pier from various angles.

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2

1 4

3

5

6

7

8

1. Side-aerial of the Scalloped Wall just north of the center garden entrance gate posts, as it is today. 2. Scalloped Wall and Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ ) from inside the garden. 3. Aerial photograph of the Scalloped Wall taken in 2010. 4. South wall remains with shed in background. Evidence of a straight wall similar to the North wall. Photograph from 1938. 5. View of Garden and ivy (Hedera helix) covered Scalloped Wall taken in 1946. 6. Scalloped Wall from the north lawn before the garden shed was added at the north end, photographed December 28, 1937. 7.Scalloped Wall without coping. Photograph from 1936. 37 | 8. South garden entrance and new south wall designed by Eddie Mathews, photographed May 1941.

CHAPTER V The Garden

During the Victorian period, the garden had a “broad, graveled walk [that] extended from east to west as one entered, and another from north to south crossed it in the middle, where there was a latticed summer-house covered with jasmine and honeysuckle and fitted with seats inside.” There also existed a second walk bordered by grapes with “flower-beds in circles and hectagonals where every sort of sweet old-time bloom was cultivated.” Planted at intervals might have been Arborvitae trees with Lilies of the valley, Calycanthus, Smoke trees, Tamarisk and English laburnum and box.xxv However, by 1937 Mrs. Francis H. Cabot describes the grounds as having been the setting of “dun-colored grass from which rose naked trees.”xxvi Mrs. Cabot began her work in the garden by using it as a nursery for growing English boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Her careful formal Box Garden that would emerge only several years after she had commenced her work outdoors. As the Cabots summered in Québec, the garden was mainly a spring garden of Azaleas (Azalea), Daffodils (Narcissus) and for more spatial articulation, English boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) and Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia) planted along vertical axes. In the early 1970s the garden was again redone, but this time with more structural landscape elements including a trellis and formal brick pathways within the garden. Flowering plantings were added for summer-long interest such as Cannas (Canna), Lilies (Lilium), and Roses (Rosea) many of which have survived the storms and are interspersed within the garden beds. The Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia) still bloom in vibrant shades of pinks ranging from a pale blush tone to a deeper rose color. The trellis no longer stands, but the brick pathway to and from it still remains.

The Scalloped Wall

Designed by James H. Roy and dating back to the laying out of the main house and grounds as early as 1795, the Scalloped Wall is composed of a set of twelve semi-circular scallops that stand 4 ½ feet tall and from the west perimeter of the Old Garden. Its entrance gate is located in the center between 6 scallops to its north and south pronounced by a brick post on either side standing just over 5 | 38

2 4

1

3

5

8 7 6 1. Garden shed and North Wall (right) as it is today. 2. North Wall taken from inside the garden space. 3. The Inner Garden facing east towards the water. A small sundial is located in the center of the Garden today. 4. Aerial photograph of the North Wall as it stands today. 5. Aerial photograph of the Inner Garden in the early 2000s Dorothy S. Long and friend pictured in center. 6. Currie Cabot pictured walking near the border of the Box Garden, photograph taken in February 1942 .7.North Wall, taken in June of 1938. 8. Garden trellis in the east part of the garden where now exists a raised bed of Peonies, photographed in the 1970s.

39 |

feet. The semi-circles are portions of circles with a diameter of 115 inches. The dimension from the end of one scallop post to the other measures just over 17 feet. Mrs. Francis H. Cabot writes, “most of the wall.. tumbled down long ago, and was rebuilt in 1920. Of the original wall only two scallops remain, on either side of the garden gate.. and still retain their coping of molded brick.”xxvii The ground plane is flat both inside the garden and on either side of the Scalloped Wall. However, there is written evidence of each scallop having been its own garden in which a raised mound would have filled the interior of the scallops where violets and a rosebush within each one might have grown. Hurricane Ernesto’s winds are said to have been the cause for knocking down a huge old tree next to the wall and thus, the roots damaged the scalloped wall in several areas.xxviii

The North Wall

The wall is composed of bricks that are all aligned in the same direction; horizontally. The posts are at varying intervals that are inconsistent distances from one another, the larger of which match the posts of the Scalloped Wall. The main gate at the center of the wall is significantly wider than that of the Scalloped Wall and no longer stands upright after storm Isabel and Hurricane Ernesto. A circular brick Garden Shed was added by the Cabot Family in the 1940s where the North Wall and Scalloped Wall meet. The Garden Shed is built on top of the walls itself and is currently used as a storage shed for tools and the like.

The South Wall

Only some remains are depicted in a 1938 photograph of a tall South Wall.xxix However, the Cabots kept what was left of the wall by supporting it with a post, added a pillar and designed a smaller brick wall along the perimeter of the south end of the Garden set roughly 3 feet away from the old wall, as to create an opening and alternate entrance to the Garden. This shallow South Wall stands roughly 2 ½ feet tall, but in photographs from the 1940s reveals a wooden trellis that would have added to its height. Perhaps once“against the southern walls Pomegranates and figs ripened to perfection and French artichokes”xxx might have grown. Today the garden side or interior of this wall is lined with Roses (Rosea). | 40

OFFICE

NORTH WALL GARDEN SHED

SCALLOPED WALL

TENNIS COURT

INNER GARDEN OAK DRIVE

RAISED GARDEN

GARDEN ENTRANCE

SHED BRICK PATHWAY

GARDEN ENTRANCE SOUTH WALL ENTRANCE WALK

PIER DRIVEWAY

PLAN OF THE INNER GARDEN AND SCALLOPED WALL

41 |

N

PLANTS Acer rubrum Albizia julibrissin Gleditsia triacanthos Ilex opaca Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Magnolia grandiflora Paeonia sp. Prunus sp. Quercus virginiana Rosa sp. Salix sp. Spartina sp. Viburnum sp. Zelkova serrata

A Family Cemetery

According to old records of the property, and as typical of such family properties, was an old Cemetery that is supposed to have existed just east of the garden walls. It is indicated in writing that it would have been back of the Garden and down near the shore and that it was “surrounded with a high brick wall.”xxxi However, no remnants exist today of either the wall or stones. In its supposed location is now a tennis court added by Augustus C. Long in the 1970s and is surrounded by a fence and a small portion of land before the waters’ edge. The graves that are said to have existed there were those of William H. Roy, Elizabeth Booth and Anne Seddon Rutherfoord Johnson.

Illustration of the scalloped wall looking into the main garden entrance. Also pictured is ‘Happy’ the dog who currently lives on the property.

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1

3

6

43 |

2

5

4

7

8

1. Arbor and Gladiolas (Gladiolus sp.) in bloom in August 2010. 2. Aerial photograph of the haha along the pasture, 2010. 3. The old original well east of the cove and a Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). 4. The Orchard facing the office and barn as it is today, 2010. 5. The lawn and driveway facing the old barn. The drive has since been replaced by an Arbor. In the distance the old fence and gate are present. Photograph from 1941. 6. From what is today the Arbor, looking west towards the well. Photograph from January 1941 .7.Sheep grazing in the pasture. 1946. 8. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) in bloom along the edges of the Arbor.

CHAPTER VI The Orchard, Arbor, Well and Haha

Just north of the Old Garden and along the old north brick wall lies the Orchard and wooden Arbor added in the past 10 years by Dorothy S. Long. In the Orchard are roughly 12 species of Pear trees such as the Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana). Some small flowers bloom along and within the arbor including Gladiolas (Gladiolus) and Passionflowers (Passiflora incarnata). An old road used to run through this area, a portion of which is now covered by an arched Arbor. Its configuration runs from the farm to the old original well. The well was given a covered structure by Edward J. Mathews when the Cabots lived at Green Plains. A Haha commences about halfway between the barns and the sheds to the east of the well. A small bridge also leads into the pastures. The Haha was put in by the Cabots to keep the sheep and cattle grazing beyond the yard, but still visible in the distance from the main house. Today, the wall acts as a divider between the North Lawn and the horse pastures.

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Illustration of the Orchard and Arbror facing the old well along the Haha.

PASTURE

COVE BRIDGE HAHA

FENCING

GRAVEL CIRCLE

WELL

ARBOUR

ORCHARD

DUCK HOUSE

NORTH WALL

PEONY GARDEN MAIN WALK COTTAGE

GARDEN SHED SCALLOPED WALL

PLAN OF ORCHARD, HAHA, ARBOR AND WELL

45 |

N

PLANTS Acer rubrum Ilex opaca Liriodendron tulipifera Magnolia grandiflora Paeonia sp. Pyrus calleryana Pyrus sp. Quercus virginiana

Illustration of bridge crossing the Haha and the main house off in the distance ahead. The Cove is to the west (right in picture) and the Orchard and Arbor are to its opposite.

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1

2 1. Daffodils lining the edge of the pastures, 2000. 2. Construction of the old barn in February, 1938. 3. Pastures just north of the horse stable, 2010. 4. The main barn from the North River, 2010. 5. View looking east at the barn and old gates, 2010. 6. Horse stable looking south towards the river, 2010. 7. Inside the horse stable, 2010. 8.The original well, photograph taken in 1938. 9. Horses in the north pasture, 2010.

47 |

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

CHAPTER VII The Farm

An “unusual number of fine barns, and quarters for house servants and field hands” are said to have accompanied the main house and garden when Mr. and Mrs. James H. Roy first built Green Plains in the late 1700s.xxxii This aspect of the farm was also characteristic of the property when the Cabots lived at Green Plains who under the design of Edward J. Mathews, erected several farm buildings including the cattle shed, a hay barn, a corn shed, and smokehouse of which some have been converted to horse stables, tractor sheds and storage space. Since that time, Dorothy S. Long redesigned the cow barn into a horse barn and used her father’s cow barn for the hay in about 1998. Long aslo had the fences built in 1998, upon her introduction to the horse race business. Long states they “came from Lexington, Kentucky to build them and put in the training rings for the ‘babies’.” She also syas, “horses are flgith animals and the ‘Monte Roberts’ (horse whisperer) suggests the round pens to accomplish ‘join up’ easily.. using “horse speak.. the kinder, gentler way to ‘make’ as opposed to ‘break’”. She says she had the idea of having fully integrated breeding, racing and retiring for re-training as show, hunter jumpers and polo.xxxiii There are no longer any cattle or sheep on the property. On the perimeters of what is allocated for the farm is mostly forested areas, with the exception of some storage sheds and pastures. This area extends into a covered area which Currie Cabot describes as“wilderness that is so much a part of Virginia is very close, even here in this well-populated county. The deer browse on the honeysuckle at the edge of the fileds while the tractor ploughs back and forth over land that a short while ago was lost in myrtle thicket; the sounds of mechanized farming, like those of the planes that come and go continually overhead have become an integral a part of the country as the buzzing of insects.”xxxiv

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CEDAR DRIVE

PASTURE

FENCING

cove

PASTURE

TRAINING RING

DRIVEWWAY

HORSE STABLE

PASTURE FENCING

PASTURE FENCING

FENCING

HORSE SHELTER

TRACTOR SHED SHED CARETAKER HOUSE

BRIDGE HAHA

GRAVEL WELL CIRCLE

FENCING

SHED

ARBOUR

ORCHARD

BARN

OFFICE

FENCING

TENNIS COURT

PLAN OF FARM AND CARETAKER HOUSE

49 |

N

PLANTS Acer rubrum Albizia julibrissin Gleditsia triacanthos Ilex opaca Juniperus virginiana Liriodendron tulipifera Magnolia grandiflora Pyrus calleryana Pyrus sp. Quercus virginiana Spartina sp. Viburnum sp.



Illustration the old barn and tractor.

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1 1. View through the shed to the Caretaker House, 2010. 2. Caretaker House, 2010. 3. Construction of barn sheds and renovation of the Caretaker House, photograph taken in April 1938. 4. Caretaker Cottage, 2010. 5. Renovated Caretaker House, 1946. 6. Renovations to the Caretaker House, March 30 1938. 7. Caretaker dwelling designed by Edward J. Mathews and photographed in 1946.

2 3

4

51 |

5

6

7

CHAPTER VIII The Caretakers’ Quarters

The caretaker’s house and dwellings were designed by Edward J. (Eddie) Mathews in the 1930s. The main caretaker house which still stands today is designed after the old kitchen house with a main chimney located in the center of the house. As one approaches the farm area, a view through one of the larger barns frames the setting of the house and a Magnolia tree (Magnolia grandiflora) in the background. | 52

CEDAR DRIVE

TRAINING RING PASTURE

PASTURE

HORSE STABLE

TRACTOR SHED SHED HAHA

CARETAKER HOUSE BARN

WELL AND GRAVEL CIRCLE

OFFICE ORCHARD AND ARBOUR

NORTH WALL

PEONY GARDEN

INNER GARDEN

NORTH LAWN AND COTTAGES

TENNIS COURT

MAIN WALK

DRIVEWAY SCALLOPED WALL SOUTH WALL

MAIN HOUSE

PIER SOUTH LAWN

POOL HOUSE

53 |

EXISTING CONDITIONS PLAN

N

Existing Plantings Trees

Acer rubrum Albizia julibrissin Carya illinoensis Cornus florida Cypress sp. Gleditsia triacanthos Ilex opaca Juniperus virginiana Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’ Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Ligustrum japonicum Liriodendron tulipifera Maclura pomifera Magnolia grandiflora Pyrus calleryana Pyrus sp. Prunus sp. Quercus rubra Quercus virginiana Quercus sp. Salix sp. Syringa sp. Ulmus parviflora Zelkova serrata Shrubs

Buxus sempervirens Hydrangea paniculata Viburnum sp. Perennials

Fargesia sp. Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. Rosa sp. Spartina sp.

Red Maple Persian Silk Tree Pecan Flowering Dogwood Cypress Honey Locust American Holly Red Cedar White Crape Myrtle Rose Crape Myrtle Japanese Privet Tulip Poplar Osage Orange Magnolia Bradford Pear Pear Weeping Cherry Northern Red Oak Southern Live Oak Oak Willow Lilac Tree Lacebark Elm Japanese Zelkova American Boxwood Panicle Hydrangea Viburnum Clumping Bamboo Maiden Grass Peony Rose Cordgrass

Afterword

Naturally, over the course of the past 200 years not all building structures or plantings have remained at Green Plains. Nonetheless, the vibrant character of the main house, celebrated scalloped wall and grounds still exists today. In some instances more evident than with others, a vibrant history marked by four families; two generations of the Roys, the Cabots and two generations of the Long family is evident at this most special property along the North River, Virginia. The ways in which pieces within the garden and architectural structures have come to tell the story of this ever vital property validate the importance of its preservation. It is my hope that this analysis of existing conditions will accurately reflect a past that is gone and provides a look at how those events shaped what Green Plains is today. Through careful analysis of the existing conditions, as well as a thorough look into the past, an understanding is gleaned of how the landscape, the historical events and its owners have shaped Green Plains as we know it today. It is with this compilation of information that we come to a new understanding of the immense value in continuing the preservation of this site so that it may last well into the future for generations to come. | 54

NOTES James H. Roy was a mathematician who studied at the University of Edinburgh. He is responsible for the design of the Green Plains main house as well as the scalloped wall that is a series of 12 semi-circular forms. He also lived at Green Plains and was succeeded by his relative William H. Roy. James Henry Roy, son of Mungo Roy of Locust Grove, Caroline County was a mathematician who studied at the University of. He married Elizabeth Booth of Belleville. He served as member of the House of Delegates as did his son, William Henry Roy. 1

William H. Roy, son of James H. Roy and Elizabeth Booth. He was a delegate of the House of Delegates from 1832 to 1834 and inherited Green Plains. Husband of Anne Seddon Rutherfoord who together had two daughters; Mrs. John C. Rutherfoord, of Rock Castle, and Mrs. Thomas H. Carter, of Pampatike. He later married again to Ephan, daughter of John MaCrae, of Park Gate, Prince William County. They had three children; Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Goldsboro, of Maryland, and Mrs. H. McKendree Boyd, of Green Plains. He is responsible for the East and West wing to the main house additions. 2

Edward J. (Eddie) Mathews is the brother of Currie Cabot (Mrs. Francis H. Cabot) and designer of much of the paving and walks at Green Plains immediately surrounding the house and gardens. He is also responsible for the design of additions to the main house on the east and west wing, the terrace outside of the west wing, the main house sod steps, and renovations to the interior of the house that were done in the 1940s and 1950s. He was an accomplished architect. He was first a partner of Mckim, Mead & White and then a designer partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He designed the current Chase Manhattan Bank building in New York City, the headquarters for Connecticut General Life Insurance near Hartford and the R. J. Reynolds Headquarters in Richmond among other projects. Mathews also designed the Cabot family burial plot at Ware Chuch cemetery in Gloucester County, Virginia. 3

Mrs. Francis H. (Currie) Cabot was the wife of the late Francis H. Cabot. She is responsible for planting the boxwood. She and her brother Edward J. Mathews designed where the boxwood would be planned at Green Plains to outline pathways, soften edges, and to create focal points throughout the landscape. In 1947 she wrote an article on Green Plains published in Town & Country circa 1947. She and her husband Francis H. Cabot are buried in the Ware Church cemetery in Gloucester County, Virginia. 4

Mr. Augustus C. Long, former CEO of Texaco purchased Green Plains from the Cabots in 1959. His daughter, Dorothy S. Long, currently lives at Green Plains. He is responsible for the addition to the west wing of the main house as well as the renovations of numerous outbuildings and the addition of the pool and tennis courts in the 1970s. He was also Lieutenant during WWII for the United States Navy. 5

55 |

James Cogar was responsible for changes to the interior of the main house in the 1960s and 1970s. Major changes to the interior included the fireplaces, interior decorating of the downstairs floors and woodwork in the library west wing extension. 6

Dorothy S. Long is the current owner of Green Plains property. She lives there with her son Augustus J. Long. Dorothy spent many years as a child at Green Plains when her father Augustus C. Long owned the property. 7

Elizabeth Booth was the daughter of George Booth of Belleville who was a representative of the House of Delegates from 1718 to 1719. Upon her marriage to James H. Roy she and her husband became the first family to live in the Green Plains main house. 8

Anne Seddon Rutherfoord Johnson is the daughter of Thomas Seddon of Fredericksburg. She was the first wife of William H. Roy with whom she had two daughters; Mrs. John C. Rutherfoord, of Rock Castle, and Mrs. Thomas H. Carter, of Pampatike. She is responsible for a written depiction of what Green Plains was like during the 1800s that is all that remains from its early phases as a home and Victorian Garden. 9

Francis H. (Frank) Cabot currently lives in Quebec with his wife Anne on their family property Les Quatre Vents, a private garden. An American gardener and horticulturalist, photographer, graduate of Harvard College and, previous chairman of the New York Botanical Garden and founder of the Garden Conservancy, Cabot has gardened all over America and helped in the restoration and preservation of many landscapes throughout the world. He is also author of the book The Greater Perfection at Les Quatre Vents. Cabot spent many years as a young boy at Green Plains and not only shared his family photographs and old records of Green Plains for this project, but his memories of being there throughout the entire process. 10

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project has been made possible by the Garden Club of Virginia, which annually offers Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship. Special thanks are due to the members of the Fellowship Committee. Thanks are due to the Cabots for sharing their family photo albums from the 1930s through the 1960s and answering my relentless questions. With appreciation for Frank Cabot, who has shared with me his childhood memories and unparalleled support in my endeavors with the Green Plains project as both a resource and mentor. Thanks are also due to Sally Guy, Susan and William Perrin, Will Rieley, Brent Heath, Roxanne Brouse, Murdoch Matheson, Sandra Geiger, Jebb and Chris Cuthbert, and my parents Norwig and Michele Debye-Saxinger for their support, as well as members of the Garden Club of Virginia. I would like to thank Dorothy S. Long for contributing to the preparation of this work and who gave frequently of her time and knowledge. For without them all, this would not have been possible.

--------Maria Debye-Saxinger, Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship Recipient 2010

57 |

APPENDIX A: EXISTING PLANTINGS AND BUILT ELEMENTS INDEX EXISTING CONDITIONS PLAN

Existing Plantings Trees

Acer rubrum Albizia julibrissin Carya illinoensis Cornus florida Cypress sp. Gleditsia triacanthos Ilex opaca Juniperus virginiana Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’ Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Ligustrum japonicum Liriodendron tulipifera Maclura pomifera Magnolia grandiflora Pyrus calleryana Pyrus sp. Prunus sp. Quercus rubra Quercus virginiana Quercus sp. Salix sp. Syringa sp. Ulmus parviflora Zelkova serrata Shrubs

Buxus sempervirens Hydrangea paniculata Viburnum sp. Perennials

Fargesia sp. Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. Rosa sp. Spartina sp.

N

Red Maple Persian Silk Tree Pecan Flowering Dogwood Cypress Honey Locust American Holly Red Cedar White Crape Myrtle Rose Crape Myrtle Japanese Privet Tulip Poplar Osage Orange Magnolia Bradford Pear Pear Weeping Cherry Northern Red Oak Southern Live Oak Oak Willow Lilac Tree Lacebark Elm Japanese Zelkova American Boxwood Panicle Hydrangea Viburnum Clumping Bamboo Maiden Grass Peony Rose Cordgrass

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THE Main house

Existing Plantings

AR BS CI FS HS LIa L MG MS PS PP QS RS SS

Acer Rubrum Buxus sempervirens Carya illinoensis Fargesia sp. Hosta sp. Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’ Lawn Magnolia grandiflora Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. Prunus sp. Quercus sp. Rosa sp. Spartina sp.

Built Elements I Main House II Terrace III Main Walk IV Entrance Walk V Sod Steps VI Kitchen Courtyard VII Driveway VIII Pool House IX Pool X Pool Shed XI Well

(PP)

(CI)

L

III (RS) (RS)

(CI)

(CI)

(BS)

(PS)

(PS)

(MG)

IV (BS)

VII VI

I

(PS)

II

(CI)

(MS)

(MS)

V

IX

(HS) (MG)

(MG)

(MG)

(MG) (HS)

(QS) L (AR)

59 |

VIII

XI

(LIa)

N

X (FS)

(SS)

SOUTH LAWN

Existing Plantings

AR BS CI CS FS GT HP IO JV LIa LIr L MG MS PS QS SS Ss

Acer rubrum Buxus sempervirens Carya illinoensis Cypress sp. Fargesia sp. Gleditsia triacanthos Hydrangea paniculata Ilex opaca Juniperus virginiana Lagerstroemia indica ‘Alba’ Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Lawn Magnolia grandiflora Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. Quercus sp. Spartina sp. Syringa sp.

Built Elements I Main House II Driveway III Terrace IV Sod Steps V Well VI Posts VII Sea Wall VIII Pool House IX Pool X Pool Shed

(CI)

(CI)

(RS) (PS)

(BS)

(CI)

III

VIII (MS)

(MS)

IV (MG)

(MG)

(MG)

VII

(SS)

V

(HP)

(JV)

(LIa) (LIa)

(Ss)

(CS)

(MG)

(Ss)

(IO)

(FS)

L

(JV)

X

(LIa)

(AR)

(AR)

IX

(MG)

(FS)

(QS)

(Ss)

(GT)

VI

II

(BS)

I

(PS)

(HP) (SS)

(PS)

(MG)

(LIr)

(LIa)

(LIa)

(LIa) (LIa)

(FS) (JV)

(JV)

(IO)

(JV) (IO)

VII

N | 60

NORTH LAWN AND COTTAGES

Existing Plantings

AR BS CI CF IO LIr L LJ LT MP MG MS PS PC PR QR RS UP

Acer rubrum Buxus sempervirens Carya illinoensis Cornus florida Ilex opaca (MG) Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Lawn X Ligustrum japonicum Liriodendron tulipifera Maclura pomifera XII Magnolia grandiflora (PS) Miscanthus sp. Paeonia sp. VIII Pyrus calleryana Pyrus sp. (MP) (CF) Quercus rubra Rosa sp. (MP) Ulmus parviflora

Built Elements I Main House II Brick Entrance III Main Walk IV Entrance Walk V Scalloped Wall VI Garden Entrance VII Garden Entrance VIII Cottage IX Shed X Duck House XI Garden Shed XII Peony Garden XIII Well

(PC)

XIII

(PR)

XI (IO)

(LT) (LIr)

V L

(QR)

VI

IX (CF)

(UP) (LJ)

III

(CI)

(CI)

(CI)

VII (RS) (BS)

(PS)

(PS)

II

(CI) (PS) (BS)

(CI) (MS)

N

(RS)

IV

I



61 |

(AR)

POOL HOUSE

Existing Plantings

FS MG MS RS SS ZS

Fargesia sp. Magnolia grandiflora Miscanthus sp. Rosa sp. Spartina sp. Zelkova serrata

Built Elements I Pool House II Pool III Shed IV Pier V Driveway

(RS)

(ZS)

IV

(MG)

V

I (MS)

II III (FS)

(SS)

N | 62

OLD GARDEN

Existing Plantings

AR AJ GS IO LIr MG PS PP QV RS SA SS VS ZS

Acer rubrum Albizia julibrissin Gleditsia triacanthos Ilex opaca (AR) I Lagerstroemia indica ‘Rosea’ Magnolia grandiflora Paeonia sp. Prunus sp. III Quercus virginiana Rosa sp. (LIr) Salix sp. Spartina sp. Viburnum sp. Zelkova serrata

X II

V

(MG) (MG) (QV)

(VS)

(GT)

(VS)

(VS)

(AJ)

(VS) (VS)

(AJ)

XIII (LIr)

(LIr)

(IO) (LIr)

(QV)

(LIr)

IV Built Elements I Garden Shed II North Wall III Scalloped Wall IV Garden Entrance V Garden Entrance VI Garden Entrance VII South Wall VIII Brick Pathway IX Driveway X Office XI Tennis Court XII Shed XIII Well

(PS)

(IO)

(PS)

(LIr)

(LIr)

(LIr)

(LIr)

(QV) (IO)

(QV)

VIII

(QV)

(PP) (SA)

VI

(RS)

VII IX

(MG)

(ZS)

N

63 |

XI

(QV)

(QV) XII

HAHA, ORCHARD, ARBOUR AND WELL

Existing Plantings AR Acer rubrum IO Ilex opaca LT Liriodendron tulipifera MG Magnolia grandiflora PS Paeonia sp. PC Pyrus calleryana PR Pyrus sp. QV Quercus virginiana I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII

Bridge North Wall Gravel Circle Well Duck House Haha Arbour Main Walk Garden Shed Scalloped Wall Peony Garden Cottage Fencing

I VI XIII

(MG)

III

IV

(PC) (PR)

(PR)

(PR)

V III

(PS)

(IO) (IO)

XI XII

(LT)

VIII

II

(QV)

IX

(AR)

(MG)

X

N

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THE FARM, CARETAKER HOME, ORCHARD, HAHA AND THE CEDAR ALLEE

Existing Plantings

AR AJ GS IO JV L LT MP MG P PC PR QV SS VS

Acer rubrum Albizia julibrissin Gleditsia triacanthos Ilex opaca Juniperus virginiana Lawn Liriodendron tulipifera Maclura pomifera Magnolia grandiflora Pasture Pyrus calleryana Pyrus sp. Quercus virginiana Spartina sp. Viburnum sp.

Built Elements I Cedar Drive II Driveway III Gravel Circle IV Well V Horse Shelter VI Haha VII Arbour VIII Cottage IX Duck House X Garden Shed XI Scalloped Wall XII North Wall XIII Office XIV Tennis Court XV Shed XVI Tractor Shed XVII Siloh XVIII Barn XIX Horse Stable XX Training Ring XXI Caretaker House XXII Shed XXIII Fencing

65 |

(JV)

P

I (JV)

(JV)

(SS)

XX

P

P

II XIX

P

(SS)

XXIII P

XXIII

XXIII

V XVII VI (MG)

IV

(PC) (PR)

IX (PS)

VIII

(MP)

(IO) (IO) (LT)

XV

XXIII III

(AR) L

XI

XXI XXII

VII

XVIII (PR)

XII

X (VS)

XVI

(GT)

(PR)

XIII

(MG) (QV) (AJ)

(QV)

XXIII XIV

(QV)

N

APPENDIX B: AERIAL SURVEY MATERIALS AND MAPS INDEX AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS, GREEN PLAINS

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PROPERTY SURVEY FROM AERIAL

67 |

MOBJACK BAY, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1862

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1916 USGS, MATHEWS COUNTY

69 |

1917 USGS, MATHEWS COUNTY

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1986 USGS, MATHEWS COUNTY

71 |

CADASTRAL MAP, GREEN PLAINS PROPERTY

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2005 USGS, MATHEWS COUNTY

73 |

2010, SIGNIFICANT PLACES

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END NOTES

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. i

ii Christian, Frances Archer, and Susanne Williams Massie. Homes and Gardens in Old Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Garrett and Massie Inc., 1962. Print.

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. iii

iv

Netherton et al., Nan. “The Establishment of Gloucester County.” A History. Fairfax: Sinclair, 1992. 38. Print.

Christian, Frances Archer, and Susanne Williams Massie. Homes and Gardens in Old Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Garrett and Massie Inc., 1962. Print. v

Montague, Ludwell Lee.Gloucester County in the Civil War. Hampton, Virginia: Prestige Press, Inc., 1965. Print. vi

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. vii

“Hurricanes and Virginia.” Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. . viii

Cabot, Francis Higginson. Interview. 5 June 2010.

ix

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. x

Comstock, Helen.. “Green Plains.” 100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America, Revised Edition.. Edition and Printing Not Stated ed. New York: The Viking Press, 1965. 146-147. Print. xi

Farrar, Emmie Ferguson. Old Virginia Houses - The Mobjack Bay Country. First ed. New York: Hastings House, 1955. Print. xii

Cabot, Currie. “Green Plains, The End of a Sentimental Journey through Virginia.” Town & Country Jan. 1947: 109-113, 138. Print. xiii

Cabot, Francis Higginson. Interview. 5 June 2010.

xiv

Cabot, Francis Higginson. Interview. 5 June 2010.

xv

75 |

“Green Plains 1935-1959.” Family scrapbook. 1935. Francis H. Cabot.

xvi

Cabot, Francis Higginson. Interview. 5 June 2010.

xvii

Cabot, Francis Higginson. Interview. 5 June 2010.

xviii

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. xix

Cabot, Currie. “Green Plains, The End of a Sentimental Journey through Virginia.” Town & Country Jan. 1947: 109-113, 138. Print. xx

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. xxi

Cabot, Francis Higginson. Interview. 5 June 2010.

xxii

Long, Dorothy. Interview. July 2010.

xxiii

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. xxiv

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. xxv

Cabot, Currie. “Green Plains, The End of a Sentimental Journey through Virginia.” Town & Country Jan. 1947: 109-113, 138. Print. xxvi

Cabot, Currie. “Green Plains, The End of a Sentimental Journey through Virginia.” Town & Country Jan. 1947: 109-113, 138. Print. xxvii

Long, Dorothy. Interview. July 2010.

xxviii

“Green Plains 1935-1959.” Family scrapbook. 1935. Francis H. Cabot.

xxix

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. xxx

Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. xxxi

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Cabot, Francis Higginson. Interview. 5 June 2010. Cabot, Currie. “Green Plains, The End of a Sentimental Journey through Virginia.” Town & Country Jan. 1947: 109-113, 138. Print. Christian, Frances Archer, and Susanne Williams Massie. Homes and Gardens in Old Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Garrett and Massie Inc., 1962. Print. Comstock, Helen.. “Green Plains.” 100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America, Revised Edition.. Edition and Printing Not Stated ed. New York: The Viking Press, 1965. 146-147. Print. Dabney, Mary Howard; Eleanor Field Martin. ...PAST IS PROLOGUE GLOUCESTER COUNTY VIRGINIA. 1st Ed ed. Charlottes, North Caroline: Gloucester County Historical And Bicentennial Committees, 1973. Print. “Digital Resources.” University of Virginia Library. Version Digital Orthophoto Quarter-Quadrangle, Mathews Southwest. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2010. . Farrar, Emmie Ferguson. Old Virginia Houses - The Mobjack Bay Country. First ed. New York: Hastings House, 1955. Print. Geeson, D.B., R.S. Morris, and R.M. Thomas. “North River, Gloucester and Mathews Counties.” Shellfish Closure and Shoreline Survey Documents. N.p., 8 Apr. 2005. Web. 15 July 2010. . “Green Plains 1935-1959.” Family scrapbook. 1935. Francis H. Cabot. “Green Plains 1947”. Bound Professional Copies. 1947. Harold Haliday Costain. “Green Plains 2000.” Slide collection. 2000. Brent Heath. “Green Plains, Mathews County.” Survey. 2010. 7 March 2010. Louisa Aerial Surveys. “Hurricanes and Virginia.” Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. . Johnson, Anne Seddon Rutherfoord. “Green Plains.” Historic Gardens of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.: The James River Garden Club., 1923. 158-160. Print. Long, Dorothy. Interview. July 2010.

77 |

“Mathews County : Cadastral Maps.” Mathews County . Version Map 23. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2010. . “Mathews VA.” Map. 2010 Road Map: USA, Virginia. Mathews County, VA. Web. 25 August 2010. . “Mathews, Virginia Quadrangle.” MyTopo: Historical Topographic Maps. Version 1916. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2010. . “Mathews, Virginia Quadrangle.” MyTopo: Historical Topographic Maps. Version 1917. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2010. . Montague, Ludwell Lee.Gloucester County in the Civil War. Hampton, Virginia: Prestige Press, Inc., 1965. Print. Netherton et al., Nan. “The Establishment of Gloucester County.” A History. Fairfax: Sinclair, 1992. 38. Print. Reed, Florence. Real Estate Agent Letter. 1935. Hand-written letter. Francis H. Cabot Collection, Quebec, Canada. “Sally Chilton Ryan 1936”. Personal scrapbook and archive of historic homes and churches. 1936. Sandra Geiger. “University of Virginia Library.” Digital Raster Graphics (1:24,000), Mathews 1986. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2010. . Virginia in Maps : Four Centuries of Settlement, Growth, and Development. 1st ed. Richmond, Virginia: Library Of Virginia, 2000. Print. York River and Mobjack [sic] Bay, Va. / tracing for Maj. Genl. Franklin from Maj. Humphrey’s [sic] Comg. Topl. Engrs., Army of Potomac. Humphreys, A. A. (Andrew Atkinson), 1810-1883.

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IMAGE CREDITS

PHOTOGRAPHS Francis H. Cabot: pages 8 (bottom left), 17 (2, 3, 7 and 8), 19 (images 1 and 2), 20 (image 5 and 7), 21 (images 1,2, 7 and 8), 30 (images 4 and 6), 33 (images 1-5), 37 (images 4-6 and 8), 39 (images 6 and 7), 43 (images 5, 6 and 8), 47 (images 8 and 9), 49 (images 4 and 6). Sally Chilton Ryan: page 37 (image 7). Harold Haliday Costain: pages 21 (image 5), 43 (image 7), 51 (images 5 and 7). Maria M. Debye-Saxinger: pages 4, 8 (top left), 17 (images 5 and 10), 19 (image 3), 20 (images 4 and 6), 21 (images 3, 4 and 6), 25 (images 1, 2, 3 and 4), 30 (images 1, 2 and 3), 33 (images 6, 7, 8 and 9), 37 (images 1-3), 39 (images 1-4), 43 (images 1-4), 47 (1-6), 49 (images 1-3). Frank Hardy Realtors: pages title page, 17 (images 4 and 9), 30 (image 5), 39 (image 8). Brent Heath: pages 14, 25 (image 6), 39 (image 5), 47 (image 7). G.B. Lorraine: pages 17 (images 1 and 6).

ILLUSTRATIONS All illustrations, plans and drawings by Maria M. Debye-Saxinger.

79 |

This Book was created on an Hewlitt Packard EliteBook 8530w Workstation. The following programs were used for the measured drawings: AutoCAD 2010. The illustrations are all mixed media. The Adobe Creative Suite CS4 including Photoshop and InDesign were used for the layout design of the book. The overall graphic layout of the book was designed by the author.