Serpentine walk

A wooden gate echoes the pattern of the brick walk beyond.

Although this house on Jackson Avenue is classically symmetrical, the front walk does not beat a path straight to the door (as is usual), but curves around from the side. This confounds the symmetry, but makes the front porch seem much more private - even mysterious - behind a hedge and two boxwood domes.

Sorority Row

The crescent of five sororities at W&L, seen from Woods Creek trail.

In 1985, Washington and Lee admitted its first female undergraduate degree candidates. Fraternities had long been a center of social life on campus, so it was inevitable that "Greek" life would soon expand to include women. These five houses were completed in 2000 on a hillside southwest of the playing fields, for the members of the University's sororities.

I recently heard that a 6th sorority house is planned soon for the far left side of this group. If true, I think W&L should revisit the decision (even though a 6th may have been planned for from the start). This group of five different, but closely related, Greek/Roman Revival structures is a spectacularly successful architectural achievement for a modern institution. In scale, siting, and harmony with pre-existing buildings, it has turned out unusually well. The addition of a 6th house would cause the center of the group to fall at a void, however, rather than on the central portico, eliminating much of the power of the composition. (As I understand it, there is no room for a corresponding 7th structure on either side; if there was, 7 would work too -- though five seems just right.)

I hope the University preserves the strength of what it has in Sorority Row, and lights on an equally inspired way to incorporate additional houses.

Last light

601 S. Main St. (1858), looking very somber at the end of the day.

An eclectic garden has been constructed on what was formerly a long expanse of lawn between house and street.

Second place

A steel walkway bolted to the north side of the Nelson Street bridge over Woods Creek, shot from below.

This was my second choice (albeit a distant second) for yesterday's "paths and passages" theme. I may be alone in my interest in the underside of this bridge (I posted earlier about it, here), though many Lexingtonians pass below it every day while walking or running on the Woods Creek Trail.

In the future, I plan to post the interesting underside of some other bridges (for instance, the I-81 overpass on the Chessie Trail), so bear with me. Sometimes I like to look up.

Church on Sunday: Lee Chapel again

The last few days have been too cold for new photos! (I have gotten soft since moving down from the frozen north; though I prefer to think of myself as developing one of the southern refinements.) Here's another shot of perhaps my favorite structure in Lexington - Lee Chapel - taken last month.

You may remember the Chapel from this shot through the columns of Newcomb Hall.

The walkway at right leads through the campus of Washington and Lee, beginning at Washington St. beside the R.E. Lee Episcopal Church, past the Chapel (with the Colonnade on your left), and eventually on to the VMI Post. (The two schools are adjacent to one another, making for extensive grounds, as well as a very interesting contrast.) Surely one of the most pleasant walks in Lexington.

Boxwood allée

109 Lee Avenue, "Beaumont," ca. 1824. Saved from demolition in 1964.

When first built, this house - and its neighbors - were not on a street at all, but out beyond the edge of town. Now the row of 3 grand houses of which this is a part are just a block south of the post office on Lee Avenue. They still have wonderful long, sweeping front lawns.

Open gate

The main gate of the Lexington Presbyterian Church, corner of Main and Nelson streets. The patterned bricks are said to be peculiar to the town.