Kenmore - Fredericksburg VA
N 38° 18.235 W 077° 28.012
18S E 284296 N 4242415
This plantation was the home of Fielding and Betty Lewis, George Washington's brother-in-law and sister, in the 1700s.
Waymark Code: WM747H
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/30/2009
Views: 9
Two years after Fielding Lewis married Betty Washington, he purchased property which George Washington surveyed. The estate eventually developed into a plantation of 1300 acres that grew tobacco, wheat, and corn. It had a main house, kitchen, a dairy, a laundry, a meat house, store houses, farm buildings, and slave quarters. The house was built by tradesmen, Irish indentured servants, and slaves. The Lewises owned over 80 slaves.
Fielding ended up losing his wealth during the Revolutionary War by building and operating a guns manufactory, the Fredericksburg Gunnery, and died in 1787. Betty died in 1797, at which time the estate was sold to the Gordons who named it Kenmore and lived there for forty years. They added a stone portico and slate roof to the house which still exists today.
Over the next 125 years, Kenmore saw various owners, renovations, and would be divided and parts of the original plantation were sold. It was also was in crossfire of several skirmishes during the Battle of Fredericksburg in the Civil War and briefly served as a hospiital and burying ground (the soldiers were eventually moved to the Fredericksburg National Cemetery at Marye's Heights). There is still a cannonball lodged in the west wall that is visible today.
Eventually the George Washington Foundation obtained the property in the early 1920s and saved it from development. Over the years through research and investigation, the Foundation has worked to restore the interior of Kenmore and exterior grounds to a historically accurate representation of the colonial era when the Lewises first owned it. Two outbuildings on either side of the main house, one of which is the kitchen, were part of restoration projects.
The grounds are open to the public, but admission is charged to tour Kenmore's interior. For more details on hours of operation, admission, and driving directions, click here.