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You are walking along the original service road of the Dooley's estate. It is lined with the principal outbuildings that served the practical needs of their estate and household. This area was the work zone that supported the operation and maintenance of the 100-acre estate. The architecture of the outbuildings adds to the picturesque "Old World" character of the estate.
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Stone Barn
Maymont was not a farm but it did have a very substantial barn—the large building in front of you. It was designed by Noland and Baskervill, a Richmond firm, in 1908. The main level housed wagons and other equipment used to maintain the estate and stalls for the draft horses used for mowing and other heavy work. The top floor was the hayloft. The lower level had stalls for a few cows that were kept to supply fresh milk for the household.
The barn was the location of Maymont's first Nature Center, established 1952 by the Richmond Council of Garden Clubs. It operated here until the opening of the Robins Nature Center in 1999, located at Maymont's north entrance.
Herb Garden
This garden was added in 1957, after the Dooleys' time. It was donated by the Richmond Federation of Garden Clubs and designed by Higgins and Associates.
The garden displays herbs organically grown for culinary uses and appealing scents. You are welcome to touch, smell and taste them. The garden is maintained by the Old Dominion Herb Society.
Top Left: Early view of Stone Barn
Left: Noland and Baskervill drawing for the Barn
Carriage House & Water Tower
The Carriage House, shown above, was constructed in 1904 with granite quarried at Maymont. The Normandy-style building was designed by Noland and Baskervill. The first floor housed fine carriage horses and carriages of various types as well as the harness room. The second floor included a hayloft and living quarters for the coachman. Maymont's Carriage Collection was established by Elisabeth Scott Bocock in 1975.
The adjacent Water Tower stored water for Maymont's fountains, pumped from the Kanawha Canal, during the Dooleys' time.
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Landscape & Arboretum
Across this roadway you see the estate's rolling parkland and beyond it the formal entrance drive lined with Southern magnolia trees (Magnolia grandiflora). The landscaped lawns were designed to have a naturalistic character, planned to look unplanned, and in combination with the architecture to create pleasing vistas.
The majestic trees of Maymont—many from around the world and planted
by the Dooleys—form an important element of the landscape, the Arboretum. It is one of the country's distinguished, century-old collections. Today the Arboretum includes several champions, such as the Tigertail Spruce (Pica torano), the evergreen next to the fountain which is a native species of Japan.
Fountain Court
This fountain, originally nine feet deep, apparently served as a reservoir to supply the Italian Garden fountains and the Japanese Garden waterfall. Designed by Noland and Baskervill and completed in 1911, it was based on a similar landscape feature at the Villa Torlonia near Rome. Fountain Court was restored in 2005 through a donation from Lora Robins.
Italian Garden
Along the path leading downhill to the south, you will find the Dooleys' Italian Garden designed by Noland and Baskervill and completed in 1910. Worth a visit for its stunning architecture alone, the garden also is filled with colorful tulips each spring, roses beginning in May, and summer annuals that bloom until late fall.
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