The Salem Museum and the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation are planning a day trip to tour two notable historic homes, Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum in Lynchburg. The trip is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 29, departing from the Salem Museum promptly at 8:30 a.m. and returning to the Salem Museum by 5 p.m.
Tickets are $89 for adults and $79 for seniors 65 and older. The fee includes motor coach transportation, all entrance fees, guides, tours and lunch at The Neighbor’s Place Restaurant. Space is limited and will fill up soon, so early reservations are recommended. To register, call 540-389-6760 or email frances@salemmuseum.org. Then, mail a check made out to the Salem Museum to 801 E Main St, Salem, VA 24153, call with a credit card, or stop by the Salem Museum. Payment is non-refundable but substitutions are allowed.
The morning stop will be to Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, Jefferson’s personal retreat that many consider his most perfectly executed architectural work. One of the only two homes Jefferson designed for his personal use, the villa at Poplar Forest became his private sanctuary after he retired from the presidency and public service. A visit to Poplar Forest offers a unique opportunity to observe a “live” archaeological dig and historic restoration in progress, as efforts to reveal and restore Thomas Jefferson’s vision for his personal retreat continue.
In the afternoon, the tour will continue to the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum in Lynchburg. Anne Spencer was an accomplished poet of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. Edward and Anne Spencer lived in this two-story residence for 72 years and in that time welcomed many remarkable visitors including W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The house is an outstanding preserved example of architecture, interior design, African American culture, and twentieth century home life beautifully shaped by fascinating personalities and circumstances.
-The Salem Times-Register