Conclusion

_THE ANCIENT MANSION SEATS_

Visitors to the Northern Neck often ask the question: "Where are the old houses?"

Most of the remaining ancient seats are off the beaten path due to the fact that when they were built the rivers, creeks and bays were the highways.

Many of the old houses burned, either accidentally or during the wars.

Others fell into decay during the years of depression following the Civil War, and after traffic by boat was discontinued.

Some of the early homes were remodeled beyond recognition, or torn down to give way for new buildings. Some were bought by persons of wealth and faithfully restored by them. A few of the old seats are still owned and lived in by descendants of the original planters who built them.

Portions of some of the old mansions of the Northern Neck found their way into museums. An instance of this is a room from Marmion, a Fitzhugh home of King George County. The Marmion Room in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is described in the museum literature as follows: "Of all the rooms we have gathered together, possibly the most extraordinary and impressive is the one from Marmion."

Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County had been lost to the Lee family in 1820. Many years later, in 1929, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Incorporated, was organized to acquire, restore, furnish and preserve the Stratford plantation. After a great deal of dedicated effort by a great many people this goal was finally achieved. Under the painstaking guidance of the ladies of the Foundation Thomas Lee's mansion was restored to its original splendor. The garden was restored by the Garden Club of Virginia.

Stratford Hall and plantation is now a restored working colonial plantation open to the public. The restored mill grinds meal. Virginia cured hams hang in the smokehouse, and jellies and preserves are made by old recipes.

Thoroughbreds stand again in the stables. The fields are worked by modern machinery, but the 1,164-acre estate is run as nearly as possible as it was in the days of Thomas Lee.

Stratford Hall is pronounced "of prime architectural importance" by the American Institute of Architects.

George Washington referred to his birthplace as "the Popes Creek home"

or the "ancient mansion seat in Westmoreland County."

The name Wakefield seems to have been given the plantation about 1773 by the Washington heir who lived there at that time. The name is said to have been suggested by Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield."

The original house at Popes Creek was destroyed by fire. It is believed to have burned on Christmas Day, 1779.

Thirty-six years passed before the birthsite of George Washington was marked and then it was only by a simple stone which bore an inscription.

In 1881 Congress authorized the construction of a monument to mark the birthsite, but fifteen years passed before the granite shaft was erected.

A group of patriotic women were not satisfied. They dreamed of the plantation as it was when George Washington was born, and they planned to bring it alive again. In 1923, under the leadership of Mrs. Josephine Wheelright Rust, they organized the Wakefield National Memorial Association. Their goal was to restore the Wakefield plantation and make it a shrine for all people.

The Association acquired land which adjoined Government property, and Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., purchased additional acreage of the old Wakefield plantation and transferred it to the Federal Government.

An act of Congress granted the Association authority to erect a building on the birthsite "as nearly as may be practicable, of the house in which George Washington was born."

By act of Congress, January 23, 1930, the 394.47 acres owned by the Federal Government was designated as George Washington Birthplace National Monument to be administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior.

The dream of the patriotic women came true when the new Memorial Mansion was erected in 1930-31. It was immediately opened to the public.

Reliable information concerning the appearance of the original house could not be found, therefore the house that was erected represents a typical Virginia plantation house of the eighteenth century.

In the old-fashioned garden established near the Memorial Mansion there is a sundial bearing this inscription:

"A place of rose and thyme and scented earth-- A place the world forgot, But here a matchless flower came to birth, Time paused and blessed the spot."

Wakefield plantation is a memorial to the many people who had a part in saving it and bringing it to life again, as well as a monument to George Washington.