Another Home in Flint Hill

The Warrenton Garden Tour featured homes near Hume and Flint Hill. This is a little confusing because Flint Hill is not in the same county as Warrenton, but it is not far from the county line so the Warrenton Garden Club hosted the tour. The luxurious manor home that I featured yesterday is near Flint Hill, and today’s home is across the road from it. It is a strikingly different other than having similar pastoral views.

This house is a livable size rather than hotel-size. The style is contemporary featuring natural wood and stone. I don't have interior photos because they are not allowed on the tour. The first room I saw was the media room, and it had a light show on the ceiling which I found dizzying. The main living areas were pleasant with rustic touches.

Note the rough logs on the porch railings. Even more unusual was the yard, which featured boulders and stone constructions. I don’t know what else to say about that.

Critters of Luxury

On Wednesday, I showed some pictures of a very fancy farm. Here are some more photos from there, including some fine looking critters.

I wonder if the cat is thinking about those fish. 

I am also sharing a filtered version of the cat, followed by some of the fine horses that were on the property. They had a huge stable, but I did not walk up to it. I’ve seen some elegant stables before. Apparently this one has an indoor show ring.

Woodland Garden at Claybrook

Rectortown, Virginia

This garden was one of my favorites on the Historic Garden Week tours. The combination of azaleas, ferns, and flowers under the trees was enchanting. A short walk down the hill lead to a double waterfall and small pond.

We had azaleas in our yard when I was growing up, so I felt at home.

Art on a Rainy Day

Boyce / Millwood, VA

A rainy day is a good time to look into an art show. Actually, Art at the Mill is always worth seeing. The venue is interesting and the work is high quality.

A Deluxe Farm Pond

Last week was Historic Garden Week in Virginia and I did three days of touring lovely homes and gardens. Many of these places are rarely open to the public. Some offer a glimpse of how the ultra-rich live. An estate near Flint Hill was an example. The entrance to it was quite impressive and there was a large pond.

 

Although I saw geese on the pond, I did not see the swans that are said to be there. Here’s a picture of some swans that I saw another pond not long ago.

I suppose I should show you a picture of the house. It was too fancy for my taste. I half-expected Marie-Antoinette to come waltzing through the rooms.

Tuleyries on a Rainy Day

Boyce, VA

This private estate is adjacent to Blandy, the state arboretum. I have glimpsed it from a distance, but it was not open to the public until Saturday. Since I was very curious to see it, I bought a ticket in spite of forecasted thunderstorms. I got very few pictures because the storm hit while we were inside the house. They did not allow pictures inside, and I would have liked to get photos of the brick outbuildings but rain was pelting down as we left. Maybe some other time.

Tuleyries was built around 1833 for Joseph Tuley, Jr. Only the downstairs was open for the Garden Week tour.

Links:

• Tuleyries on Virginia Historic register
• Tuesday Treasures 

For Fellow Blogspot Users

 Have you checked your Spam comments folder lately? Mine is filling up with old comments that are not Spam. Some bloggers report that their own responses showed up there! 

Fortunately, I found that I was able to check these all off at one time through a “Manage” option.

By the way, leaving comments is often tricky. Sometimes I have to switch browsers to submit a comment. 

Oh! The Mural was not Finished!

Last week I saw a new mural in Woodstock and posted it. Today I found out that it was not complete then. Here is how it looks now.

 The mural is signed Brush & Heights. A little research tells us the artist is William Snyder III. 

It says Woodstock, VA., EST. 1761. The car is there because the building was once a Chevrolet garage. Let’s compare what I saw last week and how it looks now.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

I liked the sunburst and I thought the blue shape was a mountain. I was quite wrong, but it inspired me to make an AI image of a sunburst over a nearby peak. StarryAI produced four versions and I liked three of them. So this mistake was kind of fun.

Hopping Bunnies and Rural Scenery

It was historic garden week in Virginia, and I spent three days touring in our beautiful piedmont countryside. I can only begin to show you some of the pretty sights. These were in Fauquier County, a peaceful area where even its many wealthy people take pride in its rural identity.

A stone church looked charming so I turned around to take a picture. This is Willisville Chapel, and it will be 100 years old next year. Its history goes back to shortly after the Civil War. It was organized as a Christian church for African-American citizens of various denominations. It is now a United Methodist Church.

I saw plenty of barns for Tom’s blog hop. 

As I headed toward home, the quiet was interrupted by a roaring sound. I had to wait for a freight train to pass. The box cars transform into truck containers in Front Royal.