Sponsor: The Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula

Tickets: $30; single-site, $10; ages 6-12, half-price

Info: (804) 758-4876; www.VAGardenweek.org

Lunches: Boxed, $12; 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Lower United Methodist Church, Route 33 east, Hartfield. Reservations by April 18; checks to the Martha's Circle; mail to the church, Attn: Jill Davis, P.O. Box 98, Hartfield, VA 23071.

Info: (804) 776-6134

In 1669, Englishmen settled on the peninsula where the Rappahannock and Piankatank rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay.

Tour highlights:

Leafwood, Saluda (Dr. and Mrs. Brockett Muir Jr., owners), was built in 1781 as a simple vernacular building. It was enlarged twice before the current owners bought it in 2003, and the kitchen and bathrooms have been modernized.

Laurel View, Saluda (Mr. and Mrs. James Henry Ward Jr., owners), built in 1992, is furnished in a traditional manner with bright colors to showcase family pieces and a collection of needlepoint art created by the owner.

The Garden at the Tavern, Urbanna (Meredith Caskie, owner), had circular brick walkways added in 1992. The circa 1742 tavern has been a gathering place for citizens throughout the years.

Atherston Hall, Urbanna (Mr. and Mrs. William Dickinson, owners), built about 1880, was typical of the Tidewater farmhouses and is now a popular bed and breakfast. The rear garden is enclosed by period-style fencing that was used to keep livestock out.

Christ Church (Episcopal), Saluda, is a brick structure finished in 1714 that replaced the original wood building. In the church yard are a number of Colonial tombs.

Lower United Methodist Church, Hartfield, was founded in the 1650s, and the present building dates from 1717. Laid in English bond brickwork, it is one of four surviving colonial churches in Virginia with this type of masonry. It is on the Virginia Historic Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places.

Wilton, Hartfield (APVA, owner), an example of the midsize planters' houses of the 17th century, retains its historic character. The paneling has the original paint, and the floors have never been sanded. Outbuildings include a 19th-century log cabin and servant cottage.

1938 Wilton Creek Road, Hartfield (Robert R. Lovell and Elizabeth L. Young, owners), was designed to maximize open space. The three-level home includes a full basement, first-floor great room, combined dining and music room with library, gourmet kitchen and master suite.

?The Flemish Bond brickwork at Christ Church, Saluda, is made from alternating headers (short side) and stretchers (long side) on each course (row of bricks).