When I first visited Washington, Louisiana, I was entranced with the quiet neighborhoods filled with historic homes, and enjoyed browsing through the antique mall that had been opened in an idled high school. I discovered more intriguing shops along the town’s main street, and leisurely roamed through them before enjoying a delicious dinner in Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant’s inviting ambience. The eatery is established in the last of the 19th century steamboat warehouses that once fronted Bayou Courtableau.

When I arose from a restful sleep at one of Washington’s appealing bed and breakfasts, the hostess invited me to join her for a stroll. I thought we would just walk through one of the old neighborhoods, but she surprised me by taking me to a lovely 60-acre garden at Magnolia Ridge Plantation. It's meticulously maintained by the owners and open to the public every day at no charge unless a family event is taking place.

Ann Golias, the owner of Magnolia Ridge, had looked for a home such as Magnolia Ridge for many years. In 1984, when she first visited the property, the antebellum home was hidden by tall grass and overgrown shrubbery. The extensive grounds, and a once-lovely parterre garden, were decimated by unruly vines, eroded pastures and trash-filled ravines. But, Ann says, "When I toured the home, I knew Magnolia Ridge was the house, the ‘Southern Classic,’ the one I had dreamed of owning."

A few months after the Golias family moved in, Ann’s aunt and uncle came to Washington to lend a hand in cleaning up the property. "Aunt Colleen and Uncle James cleaned, cleared, dragged, and chopped debris until the place was tidy," says Ann. "Then they dug, planted, propagated, watered and fed" Magnolia Ridge’s sixty acres."

Later, Colleen and James Taylor decided to move to Magnolia Ridge and devote their energies to restoring and improving the gardens. They sowed the pastures with wildflowers, planted hundreds of trees and shrubs, hybridized thousands of daylilies, and laid the seven-mile path that guides visitors around the grounds. It links vibrant gardens with the cypress swamp that fills a hilltop cavity where clay for Magnolia Ridge’s brick walls was mined, and with shady alleys and glens named for the Golias grandchildren.