DIRECTIONS:   

click to go to google maps

 

For GPS: Set for Second Presbyterian Church, 7305 Hampton Blvd. Norfolk, VA 23505

From North/Richmond, take I-64 East through the Hampton Roads Bay Bridge Tunnel. Exit to the right via exit 276/Naval Base/Terminal Blvd. Merge immediately to the right onto 406/Terminal Blvd. Proceed 2  miles to the stoplight at Hampton Blvd. Take a left. The main gates to Lochhaven at North Shore Road will be on your right. For parking and restroom facilities, turn left into the Second Presbyterian Church lot or proceed to the Hermitage Museum. The first tour home is located on Glencove Place just past the church.   Or follow North Shore Road as it curves left to reach the Hermitage Museum and Gardens.

From East/Eastern Shore, travel the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.
Take a right on North ampton Blvd. Travel approx 5 miles to
I-64 West.  Take I-64 West to a left exit at 406/Terminal Blvd. and follow the same as above.

From Chesapeake/ Virginia Beach Take I-64 West to a left exit at 406/Terminal Blvd. and follow the same as above.  

From West/Suffolk, take Route 58 East through the Midtown tunnel. Proceed onto Hampton Blvd. for approximately 2 miles. Turn left onto North Shore Road through the main entrance into Lochhaven. For parking and restroom facilities, turn left into the Second Presbyterian Church lot or proceed to the Hermitage Museum. The first tour home is located on Glencove Pl. just past the church.

RESTROOMS: available at the Hermitage Museum and the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club.

PARKING:  On-street parking is available throughout the tour neighborhood, The Hermitage Museum, 2nd  Presbyterian Church on the corner of Hampton Blvd. and North Shore Rd. and at the neighboring Norfolk Yacht and Country Club. Please make note of all parking signs in the neighborhood. Handicapped parking spaces will be available at each tour location.

NOTE: This is a walking tour.  The tour’s span is approximately one half mile. Guests may visit properties in any order. Please wear flat-heeled, comfortable shoes to allow for uneven surfaces and stairs and to protect floors.  No photography, sketching, or cell phone use permitted inside the tour homes as a courtesy to all. Tour is offered “rain or shine.”  No refunds are available.

9 a.m. and 5 p.m.	Bird Watching Walk The Hermitage is one of Tidewater Virginia’s premier spots for birding. Join a tour led by two of area’s foremost birding experts. Bring your binoculars.
11 a.m and 3 p.m.	Flower Arranging Demonstration Under the Tent in Hermitage East Garden Come join the florists from The New Leaf as they demonstrate how to construct a gorgeous, creative, living piece of art from flowers and greenery.
1 p.m.	Peter Hatch, Monticello's Director of Gardens and Grounds Under the Tent in Hermitage East Garden Peter Hatch, scholar, and author will speak. His book, scheduled for release in April 2012, A Rich Spot of Earth": Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello ,will be available for signing. Mr. Hatch is the recipient of the 2011 Garden Club of America’s Medal for Historic Preservation. He is responsible for the restoration of the 1,000 foot long terraced vegetable garden where Thomas Jefferson assembled plants from all over the world.
3 p.m.	Wetlands and Watersheds Hermitage Circular Garden Come listen to speakers from local conservation organizations explain what is being done to preserve and enhance Norfolk’s waterfront. A tour of The Hermitage’s wetlands restoration, rain garden, and oyster reef will follow. Take a boardwalk stroll across a marsh.
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.	Dinner Dinner: The Hermitage Gardens With The Hermitage’s scenic 12 acres of gardens and waterfront as your backdrop, enjoy a boxed dinner prior to the evening’s concert. (Dinner preorder/ additional charge)* Cash Bar.
6:30 p.m.	Virginia Arts Festival Concert (Additional charge - buy tickets at Virginia Arts Festival Box office)*Cash Bar. Enjoy a musical end to your day on The Hermitage waterfront overlooking Norfolk’s Lafayette River. Music by the Town Mountain Band, a band that mines the common ground of traditional bluegrass, outlaw country, and pure old time mountain music, while harnessing the frantic energy of modern punk. Great original, tight vocal harmonies, a charismatic stage presence make Town Mountain Band a standout; but most of all, they’re just monumentally fun to listen to. For hard-driving, no nonsense, slammin’ bluegrass that makes you whoop and holler and stomp your feet.

 

Refreshments: Hermitage Visual Arts Studio, 2 - 4 p.m.
Join us for complimentary light refreshments in the estate’s renovated stables.

Lunch: Norfolk Yacht and Country Club, 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Lunch on the water. A tasty lunch of chicken salad and accompaniments will be served in the Yacht Club’s elegant ballroom with its views of the Club’s marina. Price: $15

 

 

Admission to the properties below is included with purchase of a full Norfolk Garden Week tour ticket.  

HERMITAGE MUSEUM AND GARDENS, 7637 North Shore Road. This beautiful 12-acre estate is nestled in a lush wooded setting along the Lafayette River. The Arts and Crafts style house features a combination brick and wood exterior, elegantly carved eaves and wrought-iron accents. Originally built to be the summer retreat of William and Florence Sloane in 1908, the residence became their year-round home and was later the permanent location of the Hermitage Museum. The museum was established in 1937 by the Sloanes to increase public awareness and appreciation of the arts and to offer encouragement and support for creative artistic endeavors. The house is a work of art in its own right. The expert carving and detail of master craftsmen C.J. Woodsen, Karl von Rydingsvard and M.F. McCarthy resulted in a home of uncompromising craftsmanship and an appropriate showcase for displaying treasured artwork from around the world. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon., Tues., Fri., and Sat.; Sun. 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.; closed Wed. and Thurs.; however, the museum will be open on Thursday, April 21 for the tour. Admission: $5 adults, $2 children (Ages 6-18), $3 students, free for children under 6 and active duty military. Call (757) 423-2052 for information or visit www.thfm.org.

 

THE HUNTER HOUSE VICTORIAN MUSEUM, 240 West Freemason St.  In 1894, Boston architect W.P. Wentworth designed a new Richardsonian Romanesque townhouse for James Wilson Hunter Sr., a banker and prominent Norfolk merchant, wife Lizzie and children James Wilson Hunter, Jr., Harriett Cornelia and Eloise Dexter. In the 1960s, Eloise, the last surviving family member, requested that her estate be used in part to establish a museum, preserving the home’s architecture, furnishings and decorative arts. Rich in architectural details, the museum displays the family’s collections, including an unusual Inglenook, a Renaissance Revival bedchamber suite, a nursery of Victorian playthings, stained-glass windows and an elaborately embroidered crazy quilt. Lavish period reproduction floor and wall coverings and drapery treatments complement the collection. There is also a collection of 20th century medical memorabilia that belonged to Dr. James Wilson Hunter, Jr. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

THE MOSES MYERS HOUSE, 331 Bank St. Norfolk 23510.  Owned and maintained by the Chrysler Museum of Art. Built in 1792 for a prominent Norfolk resident, this structure is a fine example of Federal-style architecture. The house contains nearly 70 percent of its first-generation furnishings, including the Gilbert Stuart portraits of Mr. Myers and his wife, Eliza. Much of the family’s cut glass, furniture, silver, and china are on display. The house was home to five generations of the Myers family before it was sold in 1931 to become a privately operated museum. The Garden Club of Virginia renovated the gardens in 2002 to reflect historically accurate late-18th-century garden design. The Moses Myers House is regularly open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free.  Call (757) 333-1087 for information or to schedule a tour.

 

NORFOLK HISTORY MUSEUM at the Willoughby-Baylor House, 601 East Freemason St., Norfolk 23510.  Owned and maintained by the Chrysler Museum of Art.  It was built in 1794 by Captain William Willoughby, a descendant of English immigrant Capt. Thomas Willoughby I, who was the recipient of a 1636 royal grant of 200 acres—50 of which would become the town of Norfolk in 1682. The house remained in the family until 1890 when it was sold. It subsequently fell into decline and was slated for demolition until it was bought and restored by the Norfolk Historic Foundation in 1964. The current exhibition showcases various aspects of Norfolk’s architectural, commercial, maritime, and military history through objects from the collections of the Chrysler Museum, other institutions, and private citizens. The garden, designed by Siska Aurand Landscape Architects, was installed in 1991 and represents the most current understanding of colonial gardens at that point. The recent addition of an oyster-shell paving is appropriate to the period.  The Norfolk History Museum at the Willoughby-Baylor House is regularly open Friday, Saturday and Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Call (757) 333-1087 for information or to schedule a tour.