Miss Mattie and her sister, Miss Bessie, became legendary. The special province of Miss Mattie was her treasured box garden. Here she spent her days, ever perfecting the formal borders, flowers which bloomed in colorful profusion from late March until the first frosts of November. And, framing these, the deep green growth of English box. One of these boxwood, singularly large and of great age, was once estimated to be worth $3,000. The gentleman who offered that sum to purchase it was refused. Miss Mattie outlived her sister Miss Bessie. On her death in 1950, "Do-Well" was inherited by the four children of their brother Clem. Again four Gaines children were faced with a decision of how to maintain "Do-Well." Dick Gaines, a mining engineer and Richard V. Gaines grandson and namesake, attempted to hold on by farming the place in absentia with the help of tenants. This arrangement was not successful, and in 1957, with profound regret he was forced to sell "Do-Well." The house and land were sold to the Spaulding Lumber Company of Chase City.
Happily, "Do-Well" has been restored by the Charlton family who purchased it in 1959.
Happily, "Do-Well" has been restored by the Charlton family who purchased it in 1959.
Miss Mattie and her sister, Miss Bessie, became legendary. The special province of Miss Mattie was her treasured box garden. Here she spent her days, ever perfecting the formal borders, flowers which bloomed in colorful profusion from late March until the first frosts of November. And, framing these, the deep green growth of English box. One of these boxwood, singularly large and of great age, was once estimated to be worth $3,000. The gentleman who offered that sum to purchase it was refused. Miss Mattie outlived her sister Miss Bessie. On her death in 1950, "Do-Well" was inherited by the four children of their brother Clem. Again four Gaines children were faced with a decision of how to maintain "Do-Well." Dick Gaines, a mining engineer and Richard V. Gaines grandson and namesake, attempted to hold on by farming the place in absentia with the help of tenants. This arrangement was not successful, and in 1957, with profound regret he was forced to sell "Do-Well." The house and land were sold to the Spaulding Lumber Company of Chase City.
Happily, "Do-Well" has been restored by the Charlton family who purchased it in 1959.
Happily, "Do-Well" has been restored by the Charlton family who purchased it in 1959.
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