Maymont is a 100-acre (0.156 sq mi) Victorian estate and public park in
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
. It contains Maymont Mansion, now a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...
, an
arboretum
An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
, an Italian and Japanese
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
, a
carriage
A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...
collection, native wildlife exhibits, a nature center, and a
petting zoo
A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many general ...
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
, and his wife, Sallie, completed their elaborate
Gilded Age
In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...
estate on a site high above the
James River
The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
. According to their wishes, after their deaths Maymont was left to the people of Richmond. Over the next 75 years, additional attractions were added.
History
Maymont was named for James Dooley's wife, Sallie May. Construction of the mansion completed in 1893. The Dooleys also built a summer home on Afton Mountain, Swannanoa, which was completed in 1913. In 2011, Maymont was named one of the top 10 public spaces by the
American Planning Association
The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...
.
Gardens
The
Japanese Garden
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...
at Maymont is well tended and features a
koi pond
Koi ponds are ponds used for holding koi carp, usually as part of a garden. Koi ponds can be designed specifically to promote health and growth of the Nishikigoi or Japanese Ornamental Carp. Koi ponds or lakes are a traditional feature of Ja ...
and a large
waterfall
A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge
of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
. The Japanese Garden also has a torii arch, rock gardens, and various red maples. It is a blend of two different time periods and a mixture of many styles of gardens. In 1911, a section of the Kanawha Canal was bought to be a part of the garden.
Years following Mrs. Dooley's passing, the Japanese garden increasingly lost its magnificence and design. The garden still has its stonework and winding watercourse that leads to its large pond. After realizing the decline of the quality of the garden, Earth Design renovated it in 1978. The new design of the Japanese is considered a "stroll garden" which offers guests at Maymont to see how the changing impact of nature has on the grounds.
Created by Noland and Baskervill of Richmond (no Baskervill , The
Italian Garden
Italian garden (or giardino all'italiana, ) typically refers to a style of gardens, wherever located, reflecting a number of large Italian Renaissance gardens which have survived in something like their original form. In the history of gardenin ...
features a
pergola
A pergola is most commonly used as an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support crossbeams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are t ...
, fountains, urns and roses. The creators of the garden modeled their design after the 15th and 16th century Italian classical style. The garden is laid out on many levels, facing the south which once overlooked the James River. The design of the Cascade and the Fountain Court is patterned like the Villa Torlonia near Rome. The Italian Garden was completed in 1910, when the Petersburg granite stonework was laid down.
The arboretum contains more than 200 species of trees and woody plants. It includes a number of "exotic champions" including a ''
Cedrus
''Cedrus'', with the common English name cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae (subfamily Abietoideae). They are native to the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altitud ...
atlantica'', ''
Cryptomeria
''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan, ...
Tilia
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Bri ...
europea''. Some examples of exotic flora that are on grounds include False Larch and Pseudolarix kaempferia from Japan; White Enkianthus and the Enkianthis perulatas from China; and Persian Ironwood. This is credited to the same landscaper who helped with the design of the Italian garden, Henry E. Baskervill. Credit goes to the Dooleys as well, who had the final say on the estates design.
Maymont's gardens are popular for outdoor weddings focused around the Italian Garden, the Japanese Garden and numerous
gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands.
In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...
s located throughout the grounds. There are ten specialty gardens as well. There is the "Marie's Butterfly Garden" that was finished in 2009. It starts east of the Children's Farm and goes along the horse and cow pastures, down to the Bobcat habitat. Examples of flowers include yarrow, butterfly weed, cone flowers, butterfly bushes, sunflowers, blue spirea and herbs. There is also an Herb Garden on grounds which was donated by the Richmond Council of Garden Clubs in 1957. It has been maintained by the Old Dominion Herb Society since 1978.
Fauna
In addition to the farm animals that it keeps in the Children's Farm, Maymont is the permanent home of several animals that are native to the Commonwealth. Many of these have been injured and are otherwise unable to live in the wild. These animals include a bald eagle, a bobcat, two black bears, and a fox. Visitors are also able to see elk and American bison. A nature center is also on the grounds, which exhibits many aquatic animals found in and around Virginia such as otters, alligators, and sharks. Throughout the park, Canada geese, American snapping turtles, numerous species of snakes, and American bullfrogs can be found wild.
Image:maymont033.jpg , A view from Maymont.
Image:Maymont Park in the winter.jpg , Maymont in the winter.
Image:Maymont_Waterfall.jpg , Terrace Waterfall in May.
Image:Wisteria covered pergola.jpg , Wisteria covered pergola
Image:2017-08-18 1536 Arbor at Maymont's Italian garden, 2006.png , Arbor