The Villa Jidiot
Bed and Breakfast Inn

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2004 Historic Garden Week in Virginia

COLLINS HOME, 158 South Main Street, Chatham. ... Built in 1920 by J.W. Collie, the Collins home has a distinctively European feel. The exterior features creamy yellow-painted masonry with pale green shutters and a polychromatic slate-tiled gambrel roof. The bold, eclectic style includes the balustered framework of the second-story windows and the classically ornate doorway. Bringing their sophisticated tastes from New York, The Collinses have graciously adapted their furnishings to this atypical setting with a sense of elegance and comfort. The house is filled with extraordinary antiques, many French, set in luxurious rooms with large windows, tall ceilings, and handsomely carved woodwork and mantels. Double glass doors, with transom lights above, open from the large main room into the smaller parlor, also known as the trophy room, and into the dining room.

Proud owners and breeders of Westminster Kennel Club-caliber Salukis with a lifelong interest in thoroughbreds, the Collines' love of dogs and horses is evident. Walls are covered with appealing prints and portraits of these animals, including their own Best-in-Show Salukis. There are many charming points of interest. Among these is the watercolor depicting trotters at the racetrack, painted in the 1930's as a design for a Greef fabric. There is also a very large semi-circular stained-glass window that came from an English pub and is now used as a bedstead. For another bed, hand-carved Corinthian columns from Thailand serve as bedposts. The house is beautiful and fascinating. Open for the first time...

Some Background Information

Historic Garden Week is the oldest and largest statewide house and garden tour event in the nation. Tours benefit the restoration of important historic grounds and gardens throughout the state. Visitors will step through the gates of more than 250 of Virginia’s most beautiful gardens, homes and historic landmarks. Three dozen Historic Garden Week tours present a rich mosaic of some of the country’s finest properties at the peak of Virginia’s springtime color. Sponsored by The Garden Club of Virginia, local events are scheduled from the Atlantic Ocean to the Allegheny Mountains and will span the centuries from the early 17th through the early 21st.

For those interested in horticulture, there will be formal gardens, walled gardens, cottage gardens, cutting gardens, annual and perennial gardens, herb gardens, water gardens, and even secret gardens. Visitors interested in architecture and interior decorating will see beautifully renovated historic properties as well as stunning contemporary residences, exceptional artwork, and some of the country’s best collections of glass, china, and American, European and Asian antiques. Many houses have interesting family histories intertwined with the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the Victorian era.

More information about this year's Historic Garden Week: www.vagardenweek.org

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