Stratford Hall and the Lees of Old Virginia

Stratford, VA, April 8, 2012:  On our return trip we toured Stratford Hall (which is only three miles downriver from George Washington's birthplace).  Stratford was the birthplace of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and, for much of the 20th century, his memory dominated Stratford, almost eclipsing its illustrious occupants.  The 21st century presentation is much more balanced.

From the visitors' center, on crosses this footbridge on the hike to the mansion.

Stratford Hall was built in the late 1730s by Col. Thomas Lee.  His grandfather Col. Richard Lee as a young man arrived in Jamestown in 1639, became prominent in colonial affairs until the beheading of Charles I, and upon his death in 1664 was the largest landowner and one of the wealthiest men in Virginia.  His father Col. Richard Lee II was educated at Oxford, active in colonial affairs and was appointed Naval Officer and Collector of Virginia Duties for the River Potomac.  Like his father and grandfather, Thomas was also involved in colonial affairs, he also became the resident manager for Lady Caroline Fairfax for the Northern Neck Proprietary and was one of the founders of the Ohio Company of Virginia which sought to expand Virginia into the Ohio River Valley.

The mansion and its out buildings are separated from the landscape by a haw-haw, invisible when looking out.

Thomas Lee's sons Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee were signers of the Declaration of Independence, his son Thomas Ludwell Lee was an editor of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and his sons William Lee and Dr. Arthur Lee served as American diplomats during the Revolutionary War.  All grew up at Stratford; Francis, William and Arthur were born here.

 
Stratford Hall is an H-shaped Georgian house by an unknown architect.  Georgian architecture uses classical orders in extremely symmetrical design.  At Stratford Hall, the south front (above right) is identical to the north front; the east side identical to the west side; and this symmetry continues to a great extent inside.  Photography is prohibited inside the mansion, which is sparsely furnished.  The exterior stairs lead to a great hall which separates the two wings of the H.

From the river entrance, a swath of green stretches almost to the Potomac.

This is the binocular view of the Potomac and the Maryland shore.

 Upon Thomas Lee's death, his eldest son Philip Ludwell Lee inherited Stratford Hall. After Philip's death, his widow continued to reside at Stratford Hall with their two daughters, her second husband and the eldest daughter Matilda's husband Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee.  Henry and Matilda were second-cousins; Henry descended through Thomas Lee's brother Henry Lee I.  Following Matilda's death, Light Horse Harry continued to live at Stratford, remarried, and had six more children, the fifth being Robert E. Lee.  Light Horse Harry in eulogizing at George Washington's funeral said Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."  In 1811, Harry and Matilda's son Henry "Black Horse" Lee IV attained ownership of Stratford Hall but was forced to sell it out of the family a few years later.

An eagle flies over Stratford.

A part of the extensive kitchen gardens.

A courtyard with wisteria on the wall amidst the out buildings.

Formal gardens lined with boxwood extend to the east.

A cardoon.

Wisteria.

Dogwood.

The brick kitchen lies immediately southeast of the mansion; it has a chicken yard and the smokehouse.

 

  The ice house lay far to the east.

 

This stone cabins housed some of the house slaves; field slaves lived in wood cabins near the fields.

The stables house a collection of antique carriages and coaches.


 

This coach (right) carried Lafayette to his last visit with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.

We left the Northern Neck via the Route 301 bridge.

Easter at the Tides Inn

Irvington, VA, April 8, 2012:  This post-WWII resort is like a very good country club where the staff is friendly but so are the members.  The Tides Inn is way out on the Northern Neck, relatively convenient to Richmond and Virginia Beach but hours away from the Washington DC, Delaware and New York license plates in the parking lot.

The marina with the creek opening into the Rappahannock near the horizon.

 
 The view (above) from our deck (left) was relaxing.

The Chesapeake Club has breakfast, lunch, and a pianist with cocktail

 
 

The Easter Bunny conducted an Easter Egg Hunt on the croquet lawn.

 

 

Easter kite flying where the Rappahannock meets the Chesapeake Bay.

 

Escape to the Northern Neck

Northern Neck of Virginia, April 7, 2012:  Our Easter getaway was a leisurely weekend on the Northern Neck.  From D.C. the usual entrance is the US 301 bridge across the Potomac:

WAKEFIELD--Our first stop was the George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Westmoreland County. 

George Washington's great grandfather settled this Popes Creek plantation in 1657 and George was born in the 18th century mansion house in 1732.  The mansion burned in 1779.  In the early 20th century the property became a national monument and, with funding by John D. Rockefeller, an 18th-century style "memorial" house was built on the property.

View accross Popes Creek, a bay off the Potomac River

The right half of the clapboard kitchen survived the fire; the brick memorial house is 20th century.

An oyster shell path outlines the footprint of the birthplace mansion.

A colonial revival kitchen garden (left).

The front of the memorial house (right).

View across Popes Creek and across the Potomac to Southern Maryland.

Spring leafing, redbud and dogwood.

 

An osprey (left).

 Apple blossoms (right).

 

This flask (above) was original to the burned mansion and sits on the gate leg dining table (left).

 

 

 

The Washington family burial ground lies about a mile west near the site of an earlier family homestead.  In the early 20th century, it was excavated and fenced off from animals.  Thirty-two remains were re-interred in 1930, among them George Washington's great-grandfather John Sr., grandfather Lawrence, and father Augustine.

 

 

At the nearby Potomac shore.

KING CARTER'S CHRIST CHURCH--Our next stop was historic Christ Church near the Rappahannock shore.  The original wooden church was funded by John Carter in 1670.  His son Robert "King" Carter built a more substantial Georgian brick church on the original foundations in  1735.  As resident agent for Lord Fairfax's extensive Virginia property, Robert amassed a very large fortune and is the progenitor of the saying, "A Carter in the South is worth two Vanderbilts in the North."