The MHC Heritage Museum at 1 E. Main St. is the tour headquarters for Historic Garden Week on Wednesday, April 22. The three houses that will be open for tours are 928 Mulberry Road, home of Dr. James Julian; 1 Dan-Lee Terrace, home of Dr. Andrew and Mrs. Anna Gehrken; and 9 Dan-Lee Terrace, home of Dr. Benton and Mrs. Debra Lewis.
A shuttle bus provided by King’s Grant will drive visitors to and from the museum headquarters and the houses; parking is across from the museum in the Broad Street parking lot. Another shuttle stationed at Dan-Lee Terrace will drive visitors up and down the sloped driveways. Tour-goers also may park along Mulberry Road and Dan-Lee Terrace.
The tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 22. Tickets to the tour cost $25 and are available at the MHC Heritage Museum and also online at https://gcvirginia.org/historic-garden-week/tickets/. Day-of-tour tickets will cost $35.
Once home to the country’s wealthiest residents per capita, Martinsville enjoyed prominence in the mid-1900s as a leader in fashion and industry. The houses and gardens showcased on this year’s tour include representatives from the town’s glory days, including the homes of former Globman’s proprietors on Dan-Lee Terrace and the Fagg’s drugstore owner on Mulberry Road.
A special exhibit and activities in the MHC Heritage Museum highlight the history of those houses and their owners, who played significant roles in the development of Martinsville’s business district and civic improvements. The exhibit, “A History of Setting Style,” shows the tricks and techniques behind formal table settings and flower arranging. It also lists the multitude of women’s social and civic organizations in Martinsville-Henry County during the mid-1900s and has other highlights from that time period.
Tour ticket-holders will receive free admission to the museum, which they may tour. There, they also will be able to create flower arrangements to keep, and they will receive information on how to create flower arrangements and formal table settings. Vendors, including for arts, crafts, native plants and food, will be set up at the museum.
928 Mulberry Road, Dr. James Julian
Built in 1936, this elegant Georgian-style house features Martinsville’s most famous staircase, located in the center of the home and leading to a second-story balcony on each side.
Traditional furniture in reds and neutrals, adorned with tasseled pillows, invites a comfortable stay. Collections throughout the house include Waterford crystal, bottles of champagne (the dog is names after the owner’s favorite – Korbel), and a whimsical collection of elephants for good luck. The sunroom, with plush furniture, provides year-round enjoyment of the outdoors.
When boxwood blight devastated nearly 80 boxwoods on the property and then deer ate down the 50 Hoogendorn hollies that replaced them, Dr. Julian undertook a complete redesign, creating a formal terraced backyard. The new outdoor space features marble furniture beneath a gazebo, a life-sized bronze statue of two girls holding an arch of flowers, and marble lion statues that anchor the symmetrical landscape.
1 Dan-Lee Terrace, Dr. Andrew and Mrs. Anna Gehrken
Two homes featured on this tour are unique as they were built at the same time for the children of Abe and Masha Globman, founders of the iconic Globman’s,department store. Although very different from the outside, the homes at 1 and 9 Dan Lee Terrace were once almost identical, as they are mirror images of one another.
The Gehrken home contains a focused collection of 18th century Southern antiques that has been assembled by Dr. Gehrken over the last 40 years. This includes furniture from both the Coastal and Piedmont regions of North Carolina and Virginia along with ornithology and botanical prints and original art. Mrs. Gehrken’s background as a designer in the furniture and fabric industry has helped meld the couple’s sometimes different styles.
The dining room features a commissioned mural of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This room includes a Piedmont Virginia cellarette, a rare set of 18th century dining chairs and a formal 18th century Norfolk corner cupboard with a beautifully carved pediment. The living room features secretaries at each end.
The master bedroom showcases a recently completed chinoiserie mural that was inspired by Estée Lauder’s dressing room.
The paneled study features Dr. Gehrken’s collection of ornithology prints. Here, the glass wall provides a view of the formal espalier garden and fountain.
9 Dan-Lee Terrace, Dr. Benton and Mrs. Debra Lewis
The glorious gardens are just what one would expect of a former Garden Club of Virginia president (Debbie Lewis, 2022-24). Delightful flower beds with profusions of bloom grace the corners and edges along the formal structure of brick walls and terraces. Two well furnished patios provide gracious dining and visiting with garden views.
Like the colors of the gardens, the house is decorated in soothing and refreshing blue and white, with Delft and Chinese porcelain throughout, and the family collection of silver and crystal adorns the dining room breakfront.
A set of six framed antique botanical prints by artists including Richard Lancake (late 1700s) and J.S. Miller (1715-1792), a lavish French crystal chandelier and an Oushak rug give the dining room a light yet formal atmosphere. Above the living room fireplace is a custom landscape painting of the Cowpasture River commissioned by the owners. The first floor primary bedroom suite, decorated with a classic batik style floral fabric and wall-covering, was added to the home in 1990.
The rooms contain family heirlooms and pieces acquired from the Lewises’ travels including a framed vintage Hermes scarf and a French Homme-Debout cabinet.
Lunch
The optional tour lunch will be held at Chatmoss Country Club. The cost is $23, with reservations being made through April 15; RSVP to Barbara Stanley at guysta45@yahoo.com or 276-252-2293. Checks should be made payable to Chatmoss Country Club and mailed to Barbara Stanley, 818 Mulberry Road, Martinsville, VA, 24112.
Holly Kozelsky of Garden Study Club is the local tour chair, and Jennifer Nease of Martinsville Garden Club is the co-chair.
The taking of pictures inside the houses is not allowed, nor is talking on cell phones. Photographs of the flower arrangements in the houses will be posted on the Facebook page Historic Garden Week in Martinsville and Henry County after the tour.
As well as the regular $25 ticket, which grants admission to all tour properties, there is a children’s ticket for $15, for children ages 5 through 17, available only online. Children under 5 accompanied by an adult are admitted free. The South Region Combo Ticket for $75, available online by April 21, grants admission to the Martinsville tour on Wednesday, Danville-Chatham on Thursday and Roanoke-Salem or Lake Gason on Saturday.
Sponsors who make this year’s tour possible include King’s Grant, Bassett Furniture, Chip Wyatt – State Farm Insurance and Natalie Gongloff of Piedmont Realty.
Historic Garden Week was established in 1927 when Garden Club of Virginia raised $7,000 to save trees planted on the Monticello lawn by Thomas Jefferson. Today GCV is a non-profit organization with 48 partnering member clubs and an impressive team of 3,400 volunteers. Funds received from Historic Garden Week support Virginia’s historic public gardens through restoration and preservation, as well as subsidize important study through graduate research fellowships.