BELMONT TRAIL FULFILLS WISH SEED OF AN IDEA: Corinne Melchers, in a Sept. 15, 1943, letter to Tom Colt, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond:

By CLINT SCHEMMER

AS IF TO complement the other glories of springtime, Belmont has sprouted a new feature for all to enjoy.

Gari Melchers Home and Studio in southern Stafford County now boasts a nature trail that surely ranks among the region's loveliest.

The fruit of many years' hard work, the trail offers visitors a different perspective on this National Historic Landmark. Walking the 1-mile circuit allows one to better appreciate the 18th-century estate's scenic beauty and farming past as did its last private owners, Impressionist artist Gari Melchers and his wife, Corinne.

The public's early reaction to the trail "has been great," said Beate Jensen, Belmont's grounds preservation supervisor. "There's been a wonderful response people really love it. And that's the whole goal."

Jensen said the project began nine years ago after she first spotted an overgrown, half-hidden trail on the brow of the hill below Belmont's summer house. Then she came across a letter the artist's widow had written a friend in 1943 about her wishes for the property once she gave it to the commonwealth of Virginia.

Corinne Melchers expressed hope that, after her death, someone would "create paths along the streams and through the glens, starting in Falmouth and finally leading one to the Warrenton Road a half mile distant."

Jensen quickly determined to fulfill her wish.

"When I read that it was like, all right, this is what you have to do. She clearly lays out what she wants us to do," she recalled. "But when I arrived here in 1999, the woods were not beautiful anymore. You could literally not walk through them, because of the natural progression of plants there. They had all the invasive species you could think."

Hard work ahead

Virginia cedars massed on the summerhouse hill down to the river, hiding the Rappahannock from view and muffling the sounds of Falmouth's rapids. Nearby, privet, greenbrier and honeysuckle choked the woods in the little valley along Falls Run.

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SEED OF AN IDEA

Corinne Melchers, in a Sept. 15, 1943, letter to Tom Colt, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond:

"My initial thought, which I feel would be an excellent one to carry out when I am gone, is as follows: to create paths along the streams and through the glens, starting in Falmouth and finally leading one to the Warrenton Road a half mile distant. This would provide a much needed opportunity for a short promenade in the woods, which are very beautiful indeed. I very much count on the pleasure the public will derive from the Melchers Memorial as a park, as well as a shrine for Gari's pictures and a gallery for contemporary art."

The next guided nature walk at Belmont will be Sunday, April 27, starting at 2 p.m., rain or shine. Members of the Central Rappahannock Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist program will escort visitors and describe the flora and fauna of the site, including the falls of the Rappahannock River.

DETAILS: Gari Melchers Home and Studio, 224 Washington St., Falmouth; garimelchers.org; 540/654-1015. The walk is free; no reservations are necessary. Sturdy shoes are recommended. For more information, call Beate Jensen at 540/654-1839.

Date published: 4/19/2008

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