Lee-Fendall House Museum
This handsome Greek Revival–style house is a veritable Lee family museum of furniture, heirlooms, and documents. “Light-Horse Harry” Lee never actually lived here, but he was a frequent visitor, as was his good friend George Washington. He did own the original lot but sold it to Philip Richard Fendall (himself a Lee on his mother’s side), who built the house in 1785.
Thirty-seven Lees occupied the house over a period of 118 years (1785–1903), and it was in this house that Harry wrote Alexandria’s farewell address to George Washington, delivered when he passed through town on his way to assume the presidency. (Harry also wrote and delivered the famous funeral oration to Washington that contained the words, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”) During the Civil War, the house was seized and used as a Union hospital.
Thirty-minute guided tours interpret the 1850s era of the home and provide insight into Victorian family life. Much of the interior woodwork and glass is original. You may visit the Colonial garden, with its magnolia and chestnut trees, roses, and boxwood-lined paths, as part of your tour or on your own without a ticket.
This handsome Greek Revival–style house is a veritable Lee family museum of furniture, heirlooms, and documents. “Light-Horse Harry” Lee never actually lived here, but he was a frequent visitor, as was his good friend George Washington. He did own the original lot but sold it to Philip Richard Fendall (himself a Lee on his mother’s side), who built the house in 1785.
Thirty-seven Lees occupied the house over a period of 118 years (1785–1903), and it was in this house that Harry wrote Alexandria’s farewell address to George Washington, delivered when he passed through town on his way to assume the presidency. (Harry also wrote and delivered the famous funeral oration to Washington that contained the words, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”) During the Civil War, the house was seized and used as a Union hospital.
Thirty-minute guided tours interpret the 1850s era of the home and provide insight into Victorian family life. Much of the interior woodwork and glass is original. You may visit the Colonial garden, with its magnolia and chestnut trees, roses, and boxwood-lined paths, as part of your tour or on your own without a ticket.
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