THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411080092
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, Staff writer
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Enjoy the historic beauty and ageless elegance of Richmond this holiday season with the Isle of Wight Arts League.
The arts league is sponsoring a day-long bus trip to the state capital on Dec. 8. The bus will leave from the parking lot behind the old academy building on Cedar Street, across from Trinity United Methodist Church, at 7:30 a.m. and will return to Smithfield about 8 p.m.
The trip includes visits to three historic estates: Maymont, Agecroft and The Virginia House, all decorated for the holidays. The 1994 Christmas season marks the first year that the Virginia House has been opened.
Afternoon tea will be at the historic Jefferson Hotel, with its grand ballroom and staircase reminiscent of ``Gone With the Wind.'' The $45 ticket price for the full trip includes the bus, admission to all of the homes, the afternoon tea and a boxed lunch and dinner on the bus.
Agecroft and The Virginia House both are country estates brought over from England around the mid-1920s and reconstructed on 23 landscaped acres on the James River in Windsor Farms, not far from downtown Richmond.
The Virginia House had its beginnings in 12th century England. It was brought to America by Alexander and Virginia Weddell. It took seven ships to carry the stones across the Atlantic.
Agecroft was rescued from destruction in Lancashire, England, in 1926. The huge, Tudor-style home is famous for its gardens and lavish interior furnishings.
Maymont often is referred to as ``Richmond's gilded-age treasure.'' It is a 33-room Victorian mansion left to the city by James Henry and Sally May Dooley. The estate tour includes the stone barn and carriage house and the gardens.
Tea will be served to the tour group at the Jefferson between 4 and 6:15 p.m.
Reservations should be made through the Isle of Wight Tourism Bureau, at the old Courthouse on Main Street.
Those who are interested in the trip may pick up a reservation form at the Tourism Bureau and leave their check for $45 per person. This includes all taxes and gratuities.
For more information, call the Tourism Bureau at 357-5182. No seats will be reserved without pre-payment. Forty seats are available. by CNB