Sponsor: Chatham Garden Club

Tickets: $10; single-site, $4; ages under 12, half-price

Info: (434) 432-1011; www.VAGardenweek.org

The rural countryside of Chatham seems to offer a slower pace of life. Located in the Piedmont region, Chatham's rolling farmlands stretch for miles and offer distant views of mountains to the west. Here, at the Fall Line, rivers drop sharply as they make their way east to the sea.

Tour highlights:

4740 Payneton Road (Mr. and Mrs. J. Fuller Motley, owners) has been transformed from what was once the old Sheva Christian Church into a residence. The character of the structure was preserved and many fixtures were reclaimed, including the sanctuary's light fixtures now in the great room.

The owners created a foyer, three bedrooms and four main rooms in the structure. They were able to refurbish interior spaces with wood reclaimed from a century-old store in a nearby community.

Artwork collected from travels adorns the walls, along with an original Sunday school mural found in one of the classrooms.

Cherrystone Farm, 1842 Chalk Level Road, (Mr. and Mrs. H. Wayne Yeatts, owners) is a 176-acre registered Black Angus cattle farm. The 6,000-square-foot home, built in 2007, features cathedral ceilings with exposed beams and detailed woodwork.

The foyer has a granite floor which transitions into pecan hardwood throughout the living areas. Each bedroom has a full bath. Additional half baths serve the laundry room, exercise room and swimming pool. The farm has a 12-horse stable, and the owners have used horse-related memorabilia for inside areas.

Streetcar, 19 S. Main St., (Mr. Allan Easley, owner) is a reconditioned double-truck Birney streetcar (No. 66) that has been given new life as a diner. Inside, a 1930s custom-built counter has attached bar stools. A 1941 timepiece manufactured by the National Clock Company sits on the roof.

The trolley's original headlight still shines brightly, enhancing the red exterior paint. Pittsylvania County Schools' Vo-Tech students, local gardeners and the owner landscaped the area with a brick foundation wall, benches and a raised garden.

The red brick building, an 1813 clerk's office, at 16 Court Place (The Town of Chatham, owner) is located in the "backyard" of Chatham's Town Hall and remains near the same spring that was designated by court order for its original placement. The structure is laid in Flemish bond brickwork with dog-tooth corbels for cornices with four rows of unmolded brick.

Memorabilia from every war are found inside, along with more than 1,000 local artifacts dating back hundreds of years.

The two-story white clapboard house at 4840 Spring Garden Road (Mrs. R. Jerry Swanberg, owner) was built in 1915. It served as a physician's office for Dr. Charles Grove. The house is located alongside an old stagecoach route that existed before the formation of Pittsylvania County in 1767.

Open for the first time is a two-room house once used by servants. The current owner has decorated the house with period furniture, including a rope bed. Artwork includes framed needlework, pieces by Bessie Pease Gutmann and nine Currier and Ives hand-colored lithographs.

*Note the early Americana at 4840 Spring Garden Road with its 1930s stove, working icebox and hand-cranked Victrola.