Lee-Fendall House

Built in 1785 by Philip Richard Fendall, who married three different women from the Lee family. The house was home to 37 members of the Lee family and later labor leader John L. Lewis.

The Lee-Fendall House stands at 614 Oronoco Street in Old Town Alexandria, a Georgian mansion built in the "telescope" style popular in 18th-century Maryland. In November 1784, Revolutionary War hero General Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III purchased three lots in Alexandria, selling one tract to his father-in-law Philip Richard Fendall I for three hundred pounds on December 4, 1784. Using enslaved laborers, Fendall began constructing the house in spring 1785 for his second wife, Elizabeth Steptoe Lee. Philip Fendall was a close friend of George Washington, who visited the house seven times during his presidency. Presidents John Quincy Adams and Woodrow Wilson later visited as well.

In total, thirty-seven members of the Lee family called this house home between 1785 and 1903. Robert E. Lee did not live here himself, but grew up directly across the street. His lifelong friend and cousin Cassius Francis Lee, Sr. resided in the house for decades. The property housed enslaved and free servants throughout this period, many living in the one-story "servants hall" connected to, but separate from, the main dwelling.

The house's darkest chapter came during the Civil War. In April 1863, the Union Army seized the property and converted it into the Grosvenor Branch Hospital under the command of Dr. Edwin Bentley. The spacious telescope-style rooms, originally designed for elegant entertaining, now accommodated 146-156 hospital beds at any given time. Over the next two years, approximately 1,700 Union soldiers passed through these rooms, suffering from wounds, disease, and the horrors of war. Research finalized in winter 2025 established that exactly 100 soldiers died within these walls. A "dead house" or morgue was constructed at the back of the property to handle the remains. Fifty-one of those who perished are now buried at Alexandria National Cemetery, the first government cemetery established during the Civil War in July 1862. The hospital also made medical history as the site of the first successful blood transfusion of the Civil War, performed by Dr. Bentley on Private George Cross.

The prominent Downham family purchased the house in 1903, followed by powerful labor leader John L. Lewis in 1937. As President of the United Mine Workers of America and founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, Lewis was frequently seen strolling the garden in his later years. He died in the house on June 11, 1969, at the age of 89. His son later sold the property to the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Lee-Fendall House Museum opened in 1974.

The hauntings are as layered as the house's history. Visitors and staff have reported seeing a female apparition in period dress, perhaps one of the many Lee women who called this home. A second ghostly woman appears on the back stairs leading to the servants quarters, accompanied by a young child. During a staff meeting, board members heard an unexplainable jingling that sounded exactly like a 1930s-style telephone, though no working phone of that era exists in the building. Staff members have reported overwhelming feelings of dread while climbing the second-floor staircase, as if something unseen were watching their ascent.

The paranormal investigators from TAPS visited the Lee-Fendall House in September 2009 for an episode titled "Civil War Spirits." The team documented high EMF readings throughout the house, particularly spiking along the first floor. Investigation of the basement revealed exposed wiring that could explain some experiences, though the specific reported apparitions and the phantom telephone remain unexplained phenomena that continue to fascinate visitors.

Today, the museum hosts "Grief and Ghosts" tours exploring Victorian mourning traditions alongside stories of tragic deaths and mysterious occurrences. Visitors explore customs such as draping mirrors after death, funeral practices, hair jewelry, mourning clothing, and seances. The Lee-Fendall House remains one of Alexandria's most well-known haunted locations, alongside Gadsby's Tavern and the Carlyle House, its walls still echoing with centuries of love, loss, and the lingering souls who may never leave.