Locator Map

William Fitzhugh (of Chatham) built Ravensworth Mansion circa 1796. In his mid-50s and successful in both business and politics, the new home in the country was said to be a retreat away from the social demands of Fredericksburg.¹

The manor house was home to his wife and three young children and enabled him to oversee activities on his 12,000 Ravensworth acres. David Turk argues that the “…move was motivated by profit of the tobacco trade. By living on the tract, he personally supervised the cultivation of the fertile product in Northern Virginia.”³

The house survived until destroyed by a fire of undetermined cause on August 1, 1926. In the preceding years, it had passed by inheritance or life estate to:

• William (of Chatham)’s son William Henry Fitzhugh in 1809
• William Henry’s wife Anna Maria Fitzhugh in 1830 (for life in trust for Mary Custis Lee and her heirs)
• William Henry’s nephew William Henry Fitzhugh (Rooney) Lee in 1874
• Rooney’s wife Mary Tabb Lee in 1891 (in trust for oldest son George Bolling Lee)
• Rooney’s son Dr. George Bolling Lee circa 1922. Dr. Lee built a smaller replacement house on the property, where the stables and outbuildings had survived the fire.

Photographs and historic survey documents

• Historic American Buildings Survey record (Library of Congress) – 16 photos and 4 drawings of house and stables recorded after 1933
• Photographs and survey report (A Look Back At Braddock)
  • Exterior rear and parlor
  • Exterior front and entrance hall
  • Ravensworth replacement house
  • Historic Survey Report: Ravensworth (1972)

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