Virginia S Historic Homes And Gardens

Home to Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, Virginia is in many ways the birthplace of America and the home of U.S. history. It is also literally the birthplace of eight presidents and numerous Revolutionary and Civil War heroes. Virginia was among the wealthiest southern states in the antebellum period, resulting in a long tradition of stately homes on luxuriant plantations. In addition to their elegant architecture and classic southern styling, these homes feature some of the most extravagant and noteworthy gardens on the eastern seaboard. From the James River Plantations to the Shenandoah foothills, Virginia's Historic Homes and Gardens celebrates the legendary houses and landscapes of Old Dominion. Virginia natives, the authors travel throughout the state to highlight the best of the famous and lesser-known homes. Including such national landmarks as George Washington's Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, the book brilliantly illustrates the homes exteriors and interiors as well as their gardens and landscaping. Historical details accompany the exquisite color photographs, along with useful information on each site's location.

Following on from the success of Garden Tourism, this book provides an update on the statistics and growth of the global phenomenon of garden visitation. It delves into new themes and contemporary trends, from art and culture to psychographic profiling of visitors and how social media and semiotics are used to enrich visitor experience and fuel motivation. In addition to these new topics, the book also expands on important areas such as the continued rise of urban gardens, garden events, historic gardens and garden economics.

Describes 27 homes in Virginia from Toddsbury built around 1690 to Woodside Farm built in 1850 with color photographs and histories of the families who live in them.

The "iron lace" that graces the businesses, homes, squares, and cemeteries of Mobile, Alabama, is as vital a part of that southern port city as it is of New Orleans, Charleston, and Savannah. Until now, its story has never been fully told. In this attractive volume, John S. Sledge's rich narrative, combined with evocative historic images and Sheila Hagler's stunning contemporary photographs, eloquently conveys as never before how ornamental cast iron defines Mobile's heart and soul. Cast iron was the wonder of the Victorian age, according to Sledge. In Mobile, the material's diverse applications were on display in hulking locomotives and boilers, flamboyant fountains, imposing fences, and endless other forms and structures. The city's ornate iron balconies, dozens of which still remain, elicited the greatest wonder, then as now. Local publications have long extolled Mobile's enchanting ironwork. Only now, however, has the subject been situated within national trends in design, industry, and consumer tastes. It is a colorful saga featuring rawboned iron founders, artisan slaves, hustling salesmen, conniving architects, willful plunderers, romantic artists, and dedicated preservationists. Drawing on rare surviving business records and other archival sources, Sledge skillfully reconstructs how the local iron industry developed and then fiercely competed with big northern foundries. As a working preservationist, Sledge pays particular attention to how many of Mobile's most splendid ornamental iron pieces have weathered hard times, natural disasters, and misguided development to remain a delight for tourists and residents alike. Hagler's beautiful photographs provide a powerful and sometimes moody visual accompaniment to this fascinating tale.

The stretch of U.S. Route 15 in Virginia's Piedmont passes through some of the most beautiful and historic land in the United States. Also known as the James Madison Highway, the route links land north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line and follows the same general path used for centuries by Native Americans, colonists, armies, and presidents. As postcards and automobiles became popular in the 20th century, travelers could find postcards for the towns of Leesburg, Warrenton, Culpeper, and Orange. They tell a story of great people and great events, as well as providing a glimpse of daily life for those who lived along this byway.