Do you remember when I wrote about going to the museum, and how important that is for a writer? Well really, I think a writer has to go all sorts of places. In late summer, while I was in Virginia, I was given a tour of Morven, which is one of the old estates close to Charlottesville. It used to be a private estate, but has now been sold to the University of Virginia. Guests stay there, and there is a conference center.

I thought I would post some photographs, because places like these give me ideas for settings in stories. From Morven, I could create quite an ordinary house belonging to a wealthy family. Or, as you will see once we get to the garden, I could create a place in the Other Country.

Let’s start with actually getting there.  Here is the drive up the mountain:

Here is the carriage house that is now a conference center. Once upon a time, it used to house a collection of carriages. Inside, there are still photographs of prize-winning horses that were bred and trained at Morven.

The Morven pennant.

Aren’t these strange? Sculptures in the shapes of horses’ heads.

The view from the top of the mountain. We were surrounded by about six thousand acres.

And your photographer, read to go into the house.