
The story of Belmont’s beginnings can be folded into post-Revolutionary accounts of the Rappahannock River tobacco and milling town of Falmouth. While the oldest parts of the much-enlarged house date to the first years of the nineteenth century, details about gardening activities are limited. It can be assumed, however, that gardens of Belmont owners of the time would have been characterized by the same geometrical layouts, as well as shrubs, ornamental plants, and vegetables then typical.
Names linked to early ownership of this National Historic Landmark property include the prominent Falmouth families Horner and Vass, and most especially the powerfully connected Susanna Fitzhugh Knox. It was, however, its purchase in 1824 by milling entrepreneur and merchant Joseph Burwell Ficklen that led to garden development still evident today. An ideal location for Ficklen, it was a walkable distance to Falmouth’s busy center, while it also offered a remarkable prospect over the village, as well as the Rappahannock falls.
Since Ficklen’s first wife Ellen McGhee had died in 1845 just two years following their marriage, it was probably after his 1847 union to Ann Eliza Fitzhugh that Belmont’s garden got major attention. In particular, this included the boxwood-lined “long walk,” a signature feature which leads past the home’s east façade’s finely crafted horseshoe stairs along a narrow terrace facing Falmouth, with a raised lawn and planting beds to the west. Evidence survives of a circular drive to the north that offered carriage access to the home and long walk. As with other Antebellum sites referenced on the Gardens page, visitors can assume the character-defining terracing was achieved by enslaved labor using teams of oxen and mules. Today, the opposite side of the dwelling provides the main entry point.
Ficklen family ownership of Belmont continued until its 1916 sale by Joseph’s daughter-in-law to prominent artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne Mackall. The richest period of Belmont’s landscape then began, as documented by written records, Melchers’ paintings, and period photographs. Subsequent milestones included Corinne’s bequest of the Belmont property and a large Melchers collection to the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with a partnership between the site and the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV) beginning in 1991.
Operated by the University of Mary Washington as well as being a National Trust Artist Home and Studio site, Belmont strongly evokes the just-referenced body of influences and actors. It was also one the important gardens and homes (along with Gari Melchers’ studio) visited by Society members during the Fredericksburg 2005 annual meeting. What they saw reflected the efforts of GCV landscape architects Rudy Favretti and Will Rieley, along with the detailed research and hands-on work of Belmont staffer Beate Ankjaer-Jensen. (Both Ankjaer-Jensen and Rieley are former SGHS board members.)
The site is rich with trees, structures, and garden features present during the Ficklen, and especially the Melchers, periods. Some have been restored/recreated by GCV relying on photographs, especially those of Frances Benjamin Johnston, such as a putto who watches over Belmont’s central lawn and beds. Plants to note include numerous bulbs, perennials, and annuals referenced in Corinne Melchers’ records, and most especially roses she favored, such as Paul Neyron and Paul’s Scarlet Climber.
In sum, few southern gardens can match the dedication to accurately recreating the landscape of an earlier time than Belmont. And, while the fountains and pools of such properties as Bayou Bend are absent, the property’s view over, and direct access to, the Rappahannock River more than adequately fill the role of “water feature.”
For further details, visit: https://www.garimelchers.org/belmont-estate/garden/
See also: https://southerngardenhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Magnolia_Fall_2000-1.pdf#page=12. This article dates the Belmont house to the 1790s. Subsequent research has pointed to an early 1800s date.
Recommended reading: Margaret Page Bemiss, Historic Virginia Gardens: Preservation Work of the Garden Club of Virginia, 1975-2007, “Belmont,” 23-32.
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