BOXWOOD GARDEN AND STATUE
Ash Lawn’s widely known boxwood garden is held, by local tradition, to have been designed by a French landscape artist who during Monroe’s presidency was engaged in work for Washington City. Certainly the old formal planting and the size of the slow-growing dwarf box (suffruticosa) do not clash with this belief.
The garden now is dominated by a marble statue of Monroe. This was presented to the president’s home upon the hundredth anniversary of his death, by the sculptor Attilio Piccirilli, whose work may be also seen in the capitol in Richmond and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Michie’s Old Tavern. J. Rawlings Thomson
THE MICHIE TAVERN
Rt. 53, Monticello Road
This authentic eighteenth century tavern was moved, 1927, from its original site on the Buck Mountain Road in North Albemarle to its present location on Monticello Road. Before-and-after photographs show that while some later tamperings were done away with, the original structure was scrupulously preserved—with the exception of the cellar, whose massive slave masonry it was not possible to transport or reproduce.
This tavern bears the name of William Michie, son of the John Michie of Louisa County who in 1746 bought a one thousand, one hundred and fifty-two acre tract in that region from John Henry of Hanover County, father of Patrick Henry. John Michie made his home in this region in a great river bend, and named it the Horse Shoe. His sons shared in the development of the tract, and John Michie’s will, 1777, provided that each son should be confirmed in ownership of the acres he had brought under cultivation, before equal distribution of the remainder.
William Michie inherited in the Buck Mountain section, lived there, and on November 11, 1784, petitioned the court for “License to keep ordinary in my house.” William Michie became a large landowner, served as Magistrate and Sheriff, and died in 1811.
This old building displays an interesting exhibit of the accustomed furnishings of that period.
Lewis and Clark Statue. 1919.