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River Farm (25 acres/10.1 ha), home to the American Horticultural Society (AHS) headquarters, is a historic landscape located at 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Virginia. River Farm's gardens are open to the public, free of charge, from April to September, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., as well as Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m., excluding national holidays.

History of River Farm

The River Farm property was first established in 1653-54 when Giles Brent and his wife, a princess of the Piscataway tribe, received a grant of 1,800 acres (7.3 km) named Piscataway Neck. In 1739 the land was passed from George Brent to brother-in-law, William Clifton who renamed the property Clifton's Neck. In 1757 Clifton completed the brick house that now serves as AHS headquarters. Following financial difficulties, Clifton sold the land to neighbor George Washington who obtained the property for £1,210 through a bankruptcy sale in 1760. Wsahington changed the name of Clifton's Neck to River Farm and leased the property to tenant farmers. River Farm was passed down through two immediate generations of Washington's and later sold with 652 of Washington's original land to the Snowden brothers of New Jersey. Isaac Snowden and his wife lived in the house that still stands at River Farm. The property was home to numerous owners including Malcolm Matheson, who bought the property in 1919. Matheson placed the property on the market in 1971. The Soviet Embassy offered to buy the property for use as a retreat or dacha for its staff. The public opposed this purchase which resulted in AHS aquiring the property.

Detailed history can be found on the AHS website.

AHS Acquisition of River Farm

After Matheson took his land off the property to avoid the Soviet purchase, Enid Annenberg Haupt, philanthropist, gardener, and member of the Board of Directors of the American Horticultural Society took interest in the property. Haupt donated the purchasing funds needed for the property to AHS in the early 1970's. In 1973, AHS relocated its headquarters from the city of Alexandria to nearby River Farm. The property was renamed River Farm in honor of President George Washington, one of the many land owners.

The River Farm Establishment

Today's smaller River Farm is located on the northernmost division of Washington's original property. River Farm features the estate house (enlarged and remodeled) with naturalistic and formal garden areas. It still preserves several historical associations with Washington. Its Kentucky coffeetrees are descendants of those first introduced to Virginia upon Washington's return from surveys in the Ohio River Valley. The estate's oldest tree is a large Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera), believed to be the largest in the United States. It was probably a gift from Thomas Jefferson to the Washington family, and grown from seedlings of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-06.

Features

The farm's gardens include:

• André Bluemel Meadow (4 acres/1.6 ha) - naturalistic area with native grasses and wildflowers. Two large black walnut trees (Juglans nigra) probably date to George Washington's ownership.

• Children’s Garden - more than a dozen small gardens for children.

• Estate House plantings - native shrubs and trees, including Allegheny serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis), fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus), dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii), and Carolina silverbell (Halesia carolina), as well as a hedge of English boxwood (Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’) with specimens nearly 100 years old.

• Garden Calm - shrubs, trees, and perennials for shade, with the large Osage-orange.

• George Harding Memorial Azalea Garden - hundreds of azalea species, varieties, and cultivars, plus small ornamental trees including river birch (Betula nigra ‘Heritage’), dogwoods (Cornus sp.), dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), and dove trees (Davidia involucrata).

• Growing Connection Demonstration Garden - vegetables and herbs.

• Orchard - apple, pear, cherry, plum, and Japanese persimmon trees.

• Perennial Border - plants selected for resistance to diseases and pests.

• White House Gates - first installed at the White House in 1819, in the reconstruction after the War of 1812, and used for more than 120 years at the White House's northeast entrance.

• Wildlife Garden - a small pond with frogs, goldfish, and turtles, surrounded by blueberry and northern bayberry shrubs, grasses, junipers, and holly.

See also

• List of botanical gardens in the United States

External links

• River Farm

38°44′33″N 77°02′41″W / 38.742369°N 77.044609°W / 38.742369; -77.044609

v t e Washington family
First generation	Lawrence Washington (1602–1652)	Coat of arms of the Washington family
Second generation	John Washington
Third generation	Lawrence Washington (1659–1698)
Fourth generation	Augustine Washington Bailey Washington
Fifth generation	Lawrence Washington (1718–1752) Augustine Washington Jr. George Washington Elizabeth Washington Lewis Samuel Washington John Augustine Washington Charles Washington Henry Washington William Washington Bailey Washington Jr. Lund Washington
Sixth generation	William Augustine Washington Bushrod Washington George Steptoe Washington Lawrence Augustine Washington George William Washington
Seventh generation	John Thornton Augustine Washington George Corbin Washington Bushrod C. Washington Peter Grayson Washington
Eighth generation	Lawrence Berry Washington Lewis Washington Benjamin Franklin Washington William D. Washington Eugenia Washington
Tenth generation	W. Selden Washington
Washington family residences Abingdon Arlington House Beall-Air Blakeley Cedar Lawn Claymont Court Fairfield Ferry Farm George Washington Birthplace National Monument Happy Retreat Harewood Kenmore Mary Washington House Mount Vernon Richwood Hall Ridgedale Rising Sun Tavern River Farm Sulgrave Washington Old Hall

• Botanical gardens in Virginia
• Protected areas of Alexandria, Virginia
• Washington family residences
• Visitor attractions in Alexandria, Virginia