00:06What does a medieval English church have in common with a Russian icon once owned by a czar?
00:12Why would a Virginia family open their private gardens to fund a public museum?
00:17And what happens when a home becomes more than a home, when it becomes a living work of art?
00:23The answers are waiting here at Hermitage Museum and Gardens.
00:27Built between 1908 and 1936 for William and Florence Sloan,
00:32this early 20th century arts and crafts estate was never meant to dazzle through excess.
00:38Instead, it whispers through craftsmanship.
00:41Twelve acres of gardens, thousands of objects, and a philosophy rooted in honesty of materials,
00:48where wood looks like wood, stone looks like stone, and every chisel mark tells the truth.
00:56As you twist the door handle, something shifts.
00:59You are no longer just entering a house. You are stepping into intention.
01:04Immediately off the entrance hall, the Gothic drawing room rises like a transplanted chapel.
01:10Designed by Philadelphia architect Frank R. Watson and assembled piece by piece in Norfolk,
01:16its carved oak screen evokes a 14th century English village church.
01:21Behind delicate tracery and figures carved by master craftsman Carl von Reidingsvard,
01:27waits a 1935 Mƶller player pipe organ, hidden, almost secret.
01:33The limestone mantle recalls the Crusades.
01:38A George III tea caddy and spoon quietly rest nearby,
01:42reminders that faith, art, and daily ritual once intertwined seamlessly.
01:48Then the Great Hall opens.
01:51Designed in 1908 by English craftsman Charles J. Woodson,
01:55the room is anchored by twin hearths, symbols of warmth and protection.
01:59Above them, kitchen witches keep watch.
02:03Folklore claims these wise crones ward off spoilage, sour milk, and mischief.
02:09Whether superstition or symbolism, they embody something deeper.
02:13A home where protection, story, and beauty coexist.
02:20Florence Sloan believed art should educate.
02:23She collected more than 5,000 objects to teach the public about art, music, religion, and culture.
02:30In this very space stand Chinese tomb figures from the Tang Dynasty.
02:35Dignified, straw glazed, painted, and gilded.
02:39Guardians from 618 to 906.
02:42In the dining room, Woodson's devotion becomes unmistakable.
02:46He spent three years hand cutting and carving ship-like oak paneling that envelops the walls and ceiling.
02:53Light pours through large windows overlooking the Lafayette River,
02:57dissolving the boundary between interior and garden.
03:00At the center of the room stands a carved wooden table displaying silver and copper Judaica,
03:06Kiddush cups gifted by Norfolk's Jewish community.
03:09Though the Sloanes were members of Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church,
03:13their friendships crossed faith traditions.
03:16Mrs. Sloan designed these floral transitions to soften the dark oak and invite her gardens inside.
03:23Even the blue Persian rug beneath your feet was her design.
03:31The little library reveals another layer of the family.
03:35The Sloan boys studied here under a private tutor.
03:38A painted glass inscription declares,
03:40The spear of destiny whose ruler is knowledge.
03:44In this house, knowledge was not ornamental.
03:47It was power.
03:49Through a quiet hallway, private spaces unfold,
03:52including a master bedroom adorned with original Louis XV paneling.
03:56A reminder that European craftsmanship traveled far to shape this Virginia retreat.
04:01In the morning room, sunlight filters through leaded glass onto a Flemish tapestry
04:07and one of the collection's treasures,
04:10Marguerite in Church by Jacques-Joseph Tissot.
04:13Painted before Tissot's celebrated society portraits,
04:17the work intertwines fashion, morality, and identity,
04:21revealing how appearance and faith once defined social standing.
04:25Above the fireplace hangs The Accounting by Scottish painter Stephen Reed.
04:31Its presence reinforces the Sloan's fascination with narrative painting,
04:35art that tells moral and literary stories.
04:38Nearby hangs Saint Elizabeth of Hungary,
04:41distributing alms to the poor,
04:43honoring a royal woman who surrendered wealth to serve the sick.
04:47Her story mirrors Florence Sloan's own philanthropic spirit in Norfolk.
04:51And then, the Russian icon.
04:55Created in 1850 and once owned by Nicholas II,
04:59this painted wooden panel of Christ enthroned
05:02is adorned with silver, mercury gilding, pearls, and jewels.
05:07Icons have long served as windows into the divine.
05:11Here, it becomes a window into history,
05:14survival, exile, faith.
05:17Even the hardware throughout the house curves into vines and leaves,
05:21rejecting industrial rigidity in favor of organic life.
05:26This is arts and crafts not as mere decoration,
05:29but as philosophy.
05:33Step outside.
05:35The east porch reveals Wood Zen's enduring hand,
05:39medieval and Renaissance motifs carved with devotion.
05:42Beyond, the enclosed garden unfolds like a secret,
05:47walled in brick and wrought iron.
05:49In the 1930s, visitors paid admission to these gardens
05:53to fund the creation of what is now the Chrysler Museum of Art.
05:57A private estate supporting public culture,
05:59a radical gesture for its time.
06:02Scattered across the grounds are more than 100 historic millstones,
06:06collected beginning in 1931.
06:08Once industrial tools grinding grain and pigments,
06:12they now rest as accidental art,
06:15their textures honoring tradesmen and the region's industrial heritage.
06:19Along the Lafayette River,
06:20a living shoreline softens erosion.
06:23Marsh grasses sway.
06:25Even the land itself reflects the estate's ethos,
06:29beauty working in harmony with nature.
06:34After Florence Sloan's death in 1953,
06:37the gardens faded into overgrowth.
06:40But like so much here, they were revived.
06:43Today, efforts continue to restore the east garden to its 1930s design,
06:48a dream returned to life.
06:51So now, the answers.
06:54What does a medieval church have in common with a Russian icon once owned by a czar?
07:00Craftsmanship as devotion.
07:02And why would a Virginia family open their gardens to fund a museum?
07:06Because art was never meant to be hoarded.
07:09And what happens when a home becomes more than a home?
07:12It becomes a bridge.
07:13Between faiths, between centuries,
07:16between private life and public good.
07:18The Hermitage is not simply an estate.
07:21It is a conversation across time.
07:23A retreat by the water's edge.
07:26An old world dream,
07:27still breathing in Norfolk.
07:29Waiting for you to step inside.
07:50Any time to reach out all directions before your return is a guest?
07:53Ancient se belangrijk,
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