Short Description: To find this cache, start across from the Carl Sandburg Learning Center 451 Meadow Hall Drive in Rockville. The cache can be accessed from Meadow Hall Drive and the adjoining sidewalk. You will need to find the hidden entrance and descend the abandoned stairway where you will find yourself in what was once a beautiful terraced garden, once a part of a vast estate that occupied this area. A careful eye will reveal numerous remnants of the extensive garden, including retaining walls, stairways and walkways. At the bottom of the stairs go left and follow the retaining wall for awhile. Watch out for fallen trees and much overgrowth.
Long Description: Do you fancy yourself a modern day Indiana Jones exploring ancient ruins and long lost civilizations? If so then you might enjoy this cache. On the way to finding it you will journey through a lost world – part of historic Twinbrook. To access the geocache, head North on Twinbrook Parkway and make a right on to Meadow Hall Drive. Park along the right side across from the Carl Sandburg Learning Center and then search for the hidden entrance to the Secret Garden. Note: Parking is restricted on school days between 9-10 am and 3-4 pm.
A little history: Although it may not look it today, the spot where you are standing was once the sight of a sprawling 400 acre plantation estate. Across the road in the open grassy area adjoining the nearby Twinbrook Forest Condominium complex once stood a stately mansion house. Parts of the original brick patio can still be seen on the grassy knoll near the entrance. The original owner was Samuel Clark Veirs, owner of the famous Veirs Mill after which nearby Veirs Mill Road is named. The mill originally stood on the western side of Veirs Mill Rd, just south of Rock Creek and operated between 1838 and 1925. A plaque stands on the opposite side of Veirs Mill Road marking the location. Veirs built his home near the mill on this location sometime during this period and named his estate Meadow Hall, after which the street where the entrance to the Secret Garden is now located was named. After his death in 1872, the estate passed to his daughter Matilda Ann Veirs and her husband William Veirs Bouic, an orphan who was raised by Samuel Clark Veirs and his wife Julianna from the age of 5. After the couple’s death in the 1890s, the estate then passed to their children, their son, William Veirs Bouic, Jr. and their four daughters. In 1925 the estate was sold to J.H. Southwick who then subsequently sold it a few years later to Donald Woodward, president of the former chain of Woodward and Lothrop Department stores, a Washington fixture for many years. Woodward used the estate as a summer home and named it Broadwood. The estate was eventually sold in 1950 to William F. Bullis, founder of the Bullis School in Potomac. Aerial photos still show the house standing as late as 1964, but it was eventually torn down in 1965 when the owners were unable to find a buyer. Although the house no longer stands, other parts of the estate still remain. The original poolhouse and swimming pool are incorporated into the Twinbrook Forest Condominium complex across the street and the original 1928 gatehouse still stands at 401 Twinbrook Parkway, at the Northeast corner of Twinbrook Parkway and Meadow Hall drive. Part of the original stone entranceway to the estate can be found at the corner of Veirs Mill Rd and Meadow Hall drive near the current day Twinbrook Library.