Blog Memories: Visiting the Former Estate of Paul and Bunny Mellon in Upperville, Virginia
Here's an encore blog from my visit to Virginia last year. This one originally ran on June 9th, 2021.
I always try to make the most of every business trip I take - visiting gardens and other interesting places that inform and inspire me.
Earlier this spring, during a brief visit to Northern Virginia for a garden club appearance, I stopped in Upperville, to tour the former estate of prominent philanthropists, Paul and Rachel "Bunny" Mellon. The 700 acre property includes the Main Residence, gardens, and the Oak Spring Garden Library - all maintained by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. OSGF is a nonprofit organization created by Bunny and dedicated to sharing her gifts and ideas. Its main mission is to support and inspire fresh thinking and bold action on the history and future of plants, including the art and culture of plants, gardens and landscapes.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Paul and Bunny Mellon maintained residences in Europe, North America and the Caribbean, but their primary home was this estate in Upperville, Virginia called Oak Spring Farm. This is the front facade of the home. An Asian pear tree is espaliered against the front wall. (Photo by Max Smith, Oak Spring Garden Foundation)
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- This is a view into the brick hallway in the Mellon’s residence and the front door.
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- Outside the Dining Room is this display of ceramics belonging to the Mellons. Most of Mrs. Mellon’s ceramics were sold at Sotheby’s after her death in 2014, but a selection of pieces were kept and used here.
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- Paul Mellon was the son of Andrew Mellon, one of the longest-serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries. Here are Andrew’s monogrammed place settings in the Dining Room. Embroidered linens were designed by Hubert de Givenchy.
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- This is a facsimile of “The Melon” by Edouard Manet, c. 1880, oil on canvas in the Dining Room at Oak Spring. The original was donated to the National Gallery of Art by Paul and Bunny.
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- This is the Blue Kitchen, or Sunday Kitchen, at Oak Spring. Portuguese tiles, featuring Bunny’s signature blue diamond patterned floor, are beautifully maintained. The windows offer great views of the garden.
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- Here is a statue of Mill Reef in the Broodmare Barn courtyard. Mill Reef was probably Paul Mellon’s most successful racehorse. He raced in Europe between 1970 and 1972, where he won the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
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- Here is a topiary American Holly tree standing over planting beds shaped like butterflies and a small reflecting pool. Bunny Mellon developed a love of plants and gardens at a young age. She began collecting botanical books when she was just 10 years old. She also loved garden design. In fact, you may know that Bunny designed gardens for some of her dearest friends, including the Rose Garden and the East Garden at the White House for Jacqueline Kennedy.
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- Many of Bunny’s garden designs at Oak Spring remain intact. Tulips and Narcissus line the beds surrounding the square garden. This view looks south toward the Mellon’s residence.
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- This tree is Malus ‘Katherine’. Malus is a genus of about 35 species of deciduous trees and shrubs from Europe, Asia and North America. The name comes from the Latin for apple. ‘Katherine’ is an upright, spreading crabapple that matures to 20 feet tall. It was discovered as a chance seedling in Rochester, New York in 1928. Pink buds open to pinkish-white, double flowers in spring, then fade to white. The flowers are followed by greenish-yellow crabapples blushed with red that mature in fall and persist into early winter.
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- Here’s a view toward the schoolhouse along the wall beds. Tulips fill out the wall beds on the northern side of the garden. Apple trees are trained against the wall in the candelabra style of espalier.
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- A burbling fountain extends from the wall of the Honey House and feeds a linear stream that cuts across a portion of the garden adjacent to the croquet lawn.
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- Inside the Honey House is a carved stone bird bath by William Edmondson (c.1874-1951), the first African-American folk art sculptor to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
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- Here’s an arrangement of baskets on the ceiling of the Mellon’s Basket House. When Mrs. Mellon was alive, this room was a place for rest and relaxation. It is now used as a meeting and education space for visitors to the Oak Spring Garden Foundation who come to participate in workshops, short courses, and other programs.
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- This is a reflecting pool in front of the Formal Greenhouse. Sitting at the end of the pool is the Cake House – a gazebo so named because it was used to shade the wedding cake when Bunny Mellon’s daughter, Eliza Lloyd, married Derry Moore, the 12th Earl of Drogheda in 1968.
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- Looking directly up at the vaulted ceiling in the central room of the Formal Greenhouse is this decorative chandelier.
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- The central room of the Formal Greenhouse is surrounded with a mural in the trompe l’oeil style by the french artist Fernand Renard. The work was commissioned by Bunny and serves as a sort of visual biography of her, depicting many real world objects she owned and things about which she was so passionate.
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- Sometimes the real physical objects in the greenhouse can be hard to distinguish from the objects painted on the walls. Look closely…
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- A few feet further is the inside of the Formal Greenhouse – still filled with plants.
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- Back outside – a replica finial on top of the Formal Greenhouse. The original was designed by the Tiffany artist-jeweler Jean Schlumberger. Exposure to the elements and deterioration led to the original being taken down for conservation in 2018. It is now on display in the nearby Oak Spring Gallery.
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- This is the main gallery of the Oak Spring Garden Library. The library contains around 19,000 rare books and objects relating to plants, gardens, and landscapes – some dating back as early as the 14th century. The library was built close to the home in 1981 as a gift from Paul to Bunny. It was expanded in 1997 to contain her growing collection of books, manuscripts, and art. Mrs. Mellon’s wish was that this collection continue to be a resource for scholars after her death. In 1993 she established the Oak Spring Garden Foundation with the purpose of maintaining and sharing those collections. (Photo by Max Smith, Oak Spring Garden Foundation)
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- And here’s the original Greenhouse Finial on display. It is being featured as part of an exhibit about its designer, Jean Schlumberger, and his creative partnerships with Bunny Mellon.
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- Here, OSGF Head Librarian, Tony Willis, shows me a selection of works from the Oak Spring collections by exceptional women artists. (Photo by Max Smith, Oak Spring Garden Foundation)
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- This view from the Road of Rokeby shows the Blue Ridge in the background. This was the Mellon’s first foothold in Virginia, purchased in 1931 by Andrew Mellon for his son, Paul. Here you can also see the mile-long airstrip that the Mellons used for their private jet.
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- And this is one of Oak Spring’s most recognizable features – the arbor of pleached Mary Potter crabapple trees. In mid-April, the trees bloom, filling the arbor with soft white blossoms. When they begin to fall, it is like a snow flurry – I am sure it is breathtaking. The Oak Spring Garden Foundation is not open to the public for general admission, but its facilities are used to host researchers, artists, and writers who come through a Fellowship or Residency program. The OSGF also hosts short courses and workshops relating to plants, gardens, and landscapes. Please go the web site at OSGF.org to learn more.
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