Kenmore (Fredericksburg, Virginia)

	Kenmore
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Landmark
	U.S. Historic district; Contributing property
	Virginia Landmarks Register
	Kenmore Plantation, 2010
Location	1201 Washington Avenue, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Coordinates	38°18′15″N 77°27′58″W / 38.30417°N 77.46611°W
Area	1 acre (0.4 ha)
Built	1770s
Architectural style	Georgian
Part of	Washington Avenue Historic District (ID02000518)
NRHP reference No.	69000325
VLR No.	111-0047
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 4, 1969
Designated NHL	April 15, 1970
Designated CP	May 16, 2002
Designated VLR	November 5, 1968

Kenmore, also known as Kenmore Plantation, is a plantation house at 1201 Washington Avenue in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Built in the 1770s, it was the home of Fielding and Elizabeth Washington Lewis and is the only surviving structure from the 1,300-acre (530 ha) Kenmore plantation.

The house is architecturally notable for the remarkable decorative plaster work on the ceilings of many rooms on the first floor. In 1970 the property was declared a National Historic Landmark.^[1]^[4]

Kenmore is owned and operated as a house museum by The George Washington Foundation (formerly George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation), and is open daily for guided tours. The Foundation also owns nearby Ferry Farm, where George Washington lived as a child.

History

The house was completed in 1776 for Fielding and Elizabeth Washington Lewis, the sister of George Washington. He was a planter and successful merchant in town. Their plantation grew tobacco, wheat, and corn by the labor of slaves.^[5] The Lewises enslaved more than 80 people on the 1300-acre plantation, including a number of domestic slaves. The mansion's rear frontage was oriented to the Rapahannock River for easy transportation access.

Elizabeth's mother Mary Ball Washington was buried on the grounds, which she had liked to visit. Lewis descendants sold the house and property in 1797 after Elizabeth Washington Lewis' death. A memorial was erected in 1894 at the Mary Ball Washington gravesite.

The Samuel Gordon family purchased the property in 1819. They named it Kenmore for the home of their ancestors in Scotland. Other nineteenth century owners restored the plaster ceilings.

During the American Civil War, the plantation house and outbuildings were used as a makeshift Union military hospital after the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. It was also used by federal troops on their way to Richmond at the close of the war.^[6]

In 1922 the Kenmore Foundation bought the property and began plans to preserve it. Two flanking dependencies were reconstructed. The landscaping was restored in 1924 by Charles F. Gillette.^[7]

Today the house and reconstructed dependencies stand on three acres of ground at 1201 Washington Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.^[4]^[3] It is included in the Washington Avenue Historic District.

References

^ ^a ^b James Dillon (October 17, 1974), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Kenmore (pdf), National Park Service and Accompanying nine photos, exterior and interior, from 1967, 1969, and undated (32 kB)
^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Kenmore Plantation". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
^ Loth, Calder, ed. (1999). The Virginia Landmarks Register. The University Press of Virginia. p. 183. ISBN 0-8139-1862-6.
^ "Heritage Sites & Organizations: Kenmore". Virginia African American Heritage Program. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
^ Library of Virginia: About the Charles F. Gillette Photograph Collection

External links

Media related to Kenmore (Fredericksburg, Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons
Official website
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. VA-305, "Kenmore, 1201 Washington Avenue, Fredericksburg, Independent City, VA", 63 photos, 5 color transparencies, 19 measured drawings, 3 data pages, 5 photo caption pages
HABS No. VA-305-A, "Kenmore, Office", 1 photo
HABS No. VA-305-B, "Kenmore, Kitchen", 2 photos
African American Historic Sites Database Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Virginia African Heritage Program

[nrhpinv2-1] James Dillon (October 17, 1974), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Kenmore (pdf), National Park Service and Accompanying nine photos, exterior and interior, from 1967, 1969, and undated (32 kB)

[register-2] "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved March 19, 2013.

[nris-3] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.

[nhlsum-4] "Kenmore Plantation". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved June 26, 2008.

[VLR-5] Loth, Calder, ed. (1999). The Virginia Landmarks Register. The University Press of Virginia. p. 183. ISBN 0-8139-1862-6.

[6] "Heritage Sites & Organizations: Kenmore". Virginia African American Heritage Program. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2008.

[7] Library of Virginia: About the Charles F. Gillette Photograph Collection

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v t e Washington family
First generation	Lawrence Washington (1602–1652)	Coat of arms of the Washington family
Second generation	John Washington
Third generation	Lawrence Washington (1659–1698)
Fourth generation	Augustine Washington Bailey Washington
Fifth generation	Lawrence Washington (1718–1752) Augustine Washington Jr. George Washington Elizabeth Washington Lewis Samuel Washington John Augustine Washington Charles Washington Henry Washington William Washington Bailey Washington Jr. Lund Washington
Sixth generation	William Augustine Washington Bushrod Washington George Steptoe Washington Lawrence Augustine Washington George William Washington
Seventh generation	John Thornton Augustine Washington George Corbin Washington Bushrod C. Washington Peter Grayson Washington
Eighth generation	Lawrence Berry Washington Lewis Washington Benjamin Franklin Washington William D. Washington Eugenia Washington
Tenth generation	W. Selden Washington
Washington family residences Abingdon Arlington House Beall-Air Blakeley Cedar Lawn Claymont Court Fairfield Ferry Farm George Washington Birthplace National Monument Happy Retreat Harewood Kenmore Mary Washington House Mount Vernon Richwood Hall Ridgedale Rising Sun Tavern River Farm Sulgrave Washington Old Hall

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
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Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks
Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Historic districts	Fredericksburg Historic District Washington Avenue Historic District
Other properties	Braehead Brompton Carl's The Chimneys Elmhurst Fall Hill Farmers Bank of Fredericksburg Federal Hill Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park Fredericksburg Gun Manufactory Site Fredericksburg Town Hall and Market Square Idlewild Mansion Kenmore The Lewis Store Matthew Fontaine Maury School Monroe Law Office Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg Rising Sun Tavern Rowe House Sentry Box Walker–Grant School Mary Washington House
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Fredericksburg, Virginia and List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia

Kenmore (Fredericksburg, Virginia)

History

See also

References

External links