Historic Garden Week: The Roots of the Republic

by Charles McGuigan 04.2026

As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country it seems only fitting that Historic Garden Week will host tours this year in some of the beautifully preserved homes and their surrounding gardens on Church Hill. Here you can trace the roots of the Republic to St. John’s Church where patriot Patrick Henry gave his famous “liberty or death” speech—a sort of No Kings oratory—that helped spark the American Revolution in the Old Dominion.

On April 22, from ten in the morning until four in the afternoon, you’ll get a chance to visit six homes and gardens on Church Hill, from an enclosed green retreat overlooking the James River at 3007 Libby Terrace to Richmond Hill, a singular complex which devotes itself to prayer, hospitality, racial healing, and spiritual development. Founded a year after the Civil War ended by Sisters of the Visitation, the nuns ran the Monte Maria Academy, a school for girls there until it closed in 1922. Monte Maria then became a cloistered monastery devoted to prayer.

Then there’s the residence of Genni Sasnett and Tom Wilds, a classic Greek Revival three-story home at 2617 East Franklin Street called The Smith House. When the couple purchased the building a little over a decade ago, it had been divided into a pair of rental units. Genni and Tom painstakingly restored the house to its original form as a single-family dwelling.   

And the gardens that embrace it—hold it in the palm of a lush green hand—are inspired not by some cookie-cutter version of colonial landscaping fraught with boxwood and English ivy.  Instead, the plantings here pay homage to Nature Herself.

Genni and her husband have created an essay in environmentally-conscious sustainability. Nurserymen and nurserywomen, and homeowners throughout the region should make this a must-go-to stop on the garden tour. You can see what can be done when working hand-in-hand with Nature, and not against Her. 

Gardens in the front yard feature several distinct sections. Along with a street-side pollinator garden, there is also the “forest garden,” as Genni calls it. Located to the right of the house, this garden showcases the owners’ collection of mayflowers and bluebells.

In the backyard, the couple sculpted a spectacular three-level terraced garden. 

When Genni and Tom first bought the home, the backyard was a botanical free-for-all of invasive trees and vines and bushes. Among them was a gigantic Ailanthus, or “tree of heaven,” (though because of their aggressive nature as an invasive species in this part of the world you might want to call it the “tree of hell.”) It dominated the space and obstructed the view. Once they removed the entire tree, including its roots that new trees can sprout from, the couple put in its place a heated saltwater pool with a spectacular view.

On this first level, along with the swimming pool, there’s a native grass lawn, a rose garden, and even a kitchen garden that features herbs and vegetables. At its center is an 80-foot tall magnolia that provides habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Just below this level is a tier that includes an additional vegetable garden, and a flower garden with an emphasis on native and pollinator-friendly plants. A stone retaining wall was constructed to support planting on the steep terrain, which was previously unsuitable for cultivation.

The lowest level of the backyard garden contains a large fig tree and the owners’ collection of daylilies. This area is intentionally less cultivated, designed to blend seamlessly with the forest just beyond the property boundary. A second stone retaining wall is visible here.

Incidentally, Tom built the steps, and designed and installed the stonework surrounding the magnolia tree on the first level.

Tickets for the garden tour are $55 in advance, and $65 on the day of the event. To get your tickets now, please visithttps://gcvirginia.org/historic-garden-week/tickets/general-ticketing/