Little Oak Spring

The highlight of our Historic Garden Week Tour was the estate of Paul and Bunny Mellon near Upperville.

Tuesday Treasures / Our World Tuesday

Paul Mellon was son of Andrew W. Mellon, financier and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Paul lived here with his second wife Bunny, an heiress who was a respected garden designer.

This was a huge estate, and is still a large property even after some of it was split off. It is currently managed by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. 

Only part of the house was open on the tour and photography was not allowed inside. It was encouraged in the spectacular garden. 

The stone house was completed in 1951, and is on the site of a log cabin once owned by Robert Fletcher, who farmed the land in the late nineteenth century.

"Paul and Bunny Mellon had multiple homes, including houses in Washington D.C., Manhattan, Antigua and Paris. However, Little Oak Spring was their Main Residence, and the place where both would spend the final days…

Little Oak Spring was the epicenter of Mr. Mellon's passion for horses and art. It was also where Mrs. Mellon built her library and developed one of her most iconic gardens."

This huge stable is the Broodmare Barn, once home to famed horses and now remodeled to be housing for interns and guests at Oak Spring Gardens, now a research and learning facilty.