by Over-the-top Maymont is an estate and public park in Richmond, Virginia. Sitting on 100 acres, it includes the Maymont Mansion (a combination of Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne styles), an arboretum, formal gardens (Italian and Japanese), a carriage collection, a nature center, wildlife exhibits, and a children’s farm.
Needless to say, you could spend hours there taking it all in.
Maymont was the home of James H. Dooley and his wife Sallie. Mr. Dooley (1841-1922) was a wealthy (obviously) Richmond lawyer, and a philanthropist. Per the Maymont website, “He was an active contributor to the recovery and growth of the South’s economy, through expansion of the railways, land development and other business ventures.”
His varied business interests included: Sloss-Sheffield Iron and Steel Company; Chesapeake and Ohio, Seaboard Air Line Railroad; Richmond and West Point, Land, Navigation and Improvement Company; the West End Home Building Fund; the Richmond and St. Paul Land and Improvement Company; and Merchants National Bank.
On the civics side of things, Mr. Dooley was involved in St. Joseph’s Orphanage; Medical College of Virginia; Dooley Hospital; Virginia Cooperative Education Association; Richmond Art Club; and more.
When you learn that he was first in his class in each of his four undergraduate years at Georgetown College (now Georgetown University), you may be inclined to think he earned his status and actually walked the walk.
Mrs. Dooley (1846-1925) was equally active in many organizations, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, Society of the Colonial Dames, Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Virginia Historical Society.
Her will included bequests of $500,000 to the Crippled Children’s Hospital, $500,000 to the Richmond Public Library and $250,000 to the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (and this is 100 years ago dollars!).
Completed in 1893, the 12,000 square foot, 33-room mansion screams “Gilded Age.”
It was the childless couple’s wish that their estate be left to the people of Richmond, Many of the aforementioned attractions were added after their deaths.
The home is rare in that there were no intervening owners, so it is truly representative of how the Dooleys lived in it.
The Japanese Garden, expanded and renovated since the death of the Dooleys, features a koi pond, large waterfall, rock gardens, and statuary.
The Italian Garden, laid out over many levels, features a pergola, fountains, and urns. The arboretum contains more than 200 species of trees.
I love this post! Maymont is stunning, and your pictures and words are wonderful!