Adena Mansion & Gardens
THE MANSION
Adena was the 2000-acre estate of Thomas Worthington (1773-1827), sixth governor of Ohio and one of the state's first United States Senators. The mansion house, completed in 1806-1807, has been restored to look much as it did when the Worthington family lived there, including many original Worthington family furnishings.
The house is one of only three houses designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe still standing in the country. Latrobe is considered the first professional American architect and served as architect of the U.S.capitol under President Thomas Jefferson.
Situated on the 300 remaining acres of the original homeplace are five outbuildings and formal gardens. The gardens have undergone major renovation. Visitors may stroll through three terraces of flowers and vegetables, as well as the shrubs and trees in the grove. Looking east from the north lawn of the mansion, one can see across the Scioto River Valley to the Logan Range. This view was the inspiration for the Great Seal of the State of Ohio.
A new Museum and Education Center features interactive exhibits that use the stories of people connected to Adena to give visitors a picture of life in Ohio in the early 1800s as well as classrooms, meeting and rental space.
Thomas Worthington, proprietor of Adena, came from Virginia and brought a Virginia gentleman's vision to his mansion and gardens.
Worthington came west from what was then Charles Town, Virginia, named for its founder, George Washington's younger brother Charles, and laid out in what is now the far eastern panhandle of West Virginia, not far from the Shenandoah River and the Virginia border. His gardens, with their terraces and ordered geometric shapes, echoed the designs of typical estate gardens of his home Commonwealth.
The gardens extend east of the house in three levels: an ornamental garden, a kitchen garden, and an area of fruits, vines, and shrubs. Beyond the easternmost terrace is an ornamental grove. Based on archeological evidence and historical scholarship, the gardens were renovated first in the 1950s and again for Ohio's 2003 Bicentennial. Today's gardens are works in progress, reflecting countless hours of digging, planting and weeding by Adena volunteers. Plant varieties are those that the Worthingtons could have planted - choices based on the ongoing efforts of the Ohio Historical Society and the Adena Mansion and Gardens Society to learn about Governor Worthington's era and share that adventure with the public.
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