Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont will offer daily “Holidays with the Melchers” 30-minute guided tours of the artfully decorated Georgian house throughout December. The museum is open daily, except Wednesdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tours run on the hour, starting at 10:30 a.m. and are included in the regular admission price of $10 for adults. Students 18 years old and younger are admitted free with an accompanying, paying adult, limit two. The tour will showcase imaginative decorations and vignettes that interpret life at the Melchers’ cherished Falmouth country retreat. All exterior decorations are provided courtesy of the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club. The museum gift shop, decked out for the season, will offer a wide selection of books, advent calendars, art supplies and gift items. Gari Melchers Home and Studio is a 28-acre estate and former residence of the artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne. The property, which is operated by the University of Mary … [Read more...]

The more than 150-year-old wrought-iron staircase at Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont has been named one of Virginia’s Top Ten Endangered Artifacts. The Top Ten program is a project of the Virginia Collections Initiative and the Virginia Association of Museums. An independent peer review panel chose the railing, believed to have been forged around 1845, from 25 nominations across Virginia to make the Top Ten Endangered Artifacts list. Virginia’s Top Ten Endangered Artifacts program, funded by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, aims to raise awareness of the importance of preserving artifacts in the care of museums, libraries and archives throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Gari Melchers Home and Studio is a 28-acre estate and former residence of the artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne. The property, which is operated by the University of Mary Washington, is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. … [Read more...]