Woodlawn

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Address: Route 1, Box 37
City: Mount Vernon
State: VA
Zip: 22121
Phone: 703 780-4000

The 2,000 acre tract on which Woodlawn was built was originally a wedding gift from George Washington to Eleanor Park Custis (Martha Washington's granddaughter) and Lawrence Lewis (George Washington's nephew). Woodlawn, a late Georgian design with a large center unit connected by hyphens, was designed by William Thornton and completed in 1805. It was the center of cultural and social life in its day. Woodlawn passed from the Lewis family possession in 1846, and by 1951 there were six owners and two periods of no occupancy. The National Trust of Historic Preservation assumed administration of Woodlawn in 1951 and asked the Garden Club of Virginia to restore the property the following year. Extensive archaeological research was undertaken, and the major portion of the grounds was trenched and excavated where it was thought walks, drives, a garden area, and buildings might have existed. The location of fence lines, hedgerows, a serpentine drive, walks, and specimen plants were thus revealed and recreated in the newly restored garden. Plants were installed in plantings appropriate for the Federal period style, with an irregular lawn defined by informal tree and shrub masses, and a formal garden which includes a tree-and-flower bordered walk, a garden house, and a rose garden.

http://www.vahistorical.org/gardenclub/woodlawn.htm

Year: 1960
Landscape Architect: Alden S. Hopkins

Garden and grounds

Year: 1967
Landscape Architect: Alden S. Hopkin's design

Implementation Orchard paths

Year: 1974
Landscape Architect: Alden S. Hopkin's design

Implementation Kitchen garden

Year: 1977
Landscape Architect: Meade Palmer

Visitors reception area

Year: 2005
Landscape Architect: William D. Rieley

Replacement of fences and gates

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