along with herbs such as rosemary, thyme, basil, mint, and sage. Both gardens and grounds receive daily attention from Ronnie Wilson, Grounds Supervisor with the Department of General Services who rakes leaves, mows the lawn, plants pansies, trims bushes, tends the vegetables, and sweeps walkways. Maureen McDonnell also focused her attention on the last section of the front yard not yet renovated, planting redbud, dogwood, azaleas, holly, and boxwoods, all donated by Virginia nurseries and greenhouses. To promote Virginia’s burgeoning wine industry, she planted a small vineyard behind the mansion. “I learned that there was a Virginia law in 1619 that required every man over the age of 18 to plant and tend at least ten grape vines,” she said. “So in accordance with that law, we planted ten Chambourcin grape vines in the garden. Its 2012 harvest will be combined with juice from other Virginia vineyards to create the first-ever, statewide, blended red wine, a vintage we have named ‘1813’ in honor of the mansion’s bicentennial.”
H
Beneath the gardens and grounds
are tunnels that connect the mansion to the Capitol, to a building at the Medical College of Virginia, and to a few other places. They were built in the 1930s to distribute steam to the buildings, and although they are not often used, governors and their families will confess that the tunnels can come in handy in wretched weather or when someone wants to avoid the press. Governor Wilder used to walk to the Capitol through the tunnel to dodge reporters. Governor Kaine and his family “escaped” through the tunnels one evening. “The press was camped out at the mansion watching Tim’s every move,” remembers Anne Holton. “It was right before the Democratic Convention when Tim was on the list of possible vice presidents. We wanted to go to our son’s college for the ROTC boot camp ceremony without reporters following us and bothering everyone when the focus should rightly be on the ceremony, not on us. So we escaped through the tunnel laughing and singing The Sound of Music!”
onoring the 2013 anniversary of Virginia’s Executive Mansion, First House: Two Centuries with Virginia’s First Families tells
the enthralling history of the 200-year legacy of the oldest continually occupied governor’s home in the United States. Written by Mary Miley Theobald, this book tells stories of art, antiques, gardens, and families, with an introduction by David Baldacci and more than two hundred illustrations.
Available in October, 2012 through The Virginia Shop at the Library of Virginia. 804.692.3524 |
thevirginiashop.org
October 11, 2012, 2:00 pm Press Conference Book Launch at the Executive Mansion Open to the public
October 17, 2012, Noon–1:00 pm Book Launch and Talk at the Library of Virginia Open to the public
Visit
www.executivemansion.virginia.gov for details.
Walls do, indeed, talk in this compelling chronicle of Virginia’s 200-year-old Executive Mansion. Created to coincide with the mansion’s bicentennial in 2013, First House brings to life the private stories of the governors and first ladies who shaped the destiny of this unique home. —Maureen McDonnell, First Lady of Virginia
The House & Home Magazine 17
MANSION COLLECTION
Chef Mark Herndon gets most of his herbs and a good deal of vegetables from the small kitchen garden beside the stables.
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