Object Details
- General
- The house and garden known as Montebello was started ca. 1740 by Benjamin Cave II, with the garden designed by his wife, Elizabeth Belfield Cave ca. 1760, and constructed by slaves. The colonial garden was laid out in terraces, and included an English kitchen garden and a boxwood garden. The second terrace had a cutting garden of flowers. A boxwood allee leads to the main house. The house was built of red brick, and there are brick walkways and brick walls defining the garden rooms.
- In 1987 the 1.093 acre garden was still extant and owned by Mrs. Gray Dunnington. It was not open to the public.
- Montebello was a plantation, built by slave labor, with the original land deed given by King George II (of England) to Benjamin Cave (ca. 1684-1762) in 1728, who passed the land on to his son Benjamin II.
- Persons associated with the garden include Benjamin Cave II and Elizabeth Belfield Cave (former owners, ca.1740), the Cave family descendants including Mrs. Leslie Gray (7th generation former owner, ca. 1962), and Mrs. Gray Dunnington (former owner, 1987).
- Former owner
- Cave, Benjamin, II
- Cave, Elizabeth Belfield
- Gray, Leslie Mrs
- Dunnington, Gray Mrs
- Collection Creator
- Garden Club of America
- Place
- Montebello (Orange, Virginia)
- United States of America -- Virginia -- Orange County -- Orange
- Topic
- Gardens -- Virginia -- Orange
- Former owner
- Cave, Benjamin, II
- Cave, Elizabeth Belfield
- Gray, Leslie Mrs
- Dunnington, Gray Mrs
- See more items in
- The Garden Club of America collection
- The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / Virginia
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.GCA, File VA066
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
- Collection Rights
- Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Bibliography
- This property is featured in Homes and Gardens in Old Virginia (1962) published by the Garden Club of Virginia.
- Scope and Contents
- The folder includes worksheets and photocopies from publications.
- Collection Restrictions
- Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1643208220039-1643210188189-1
