Kenmore

Card no 290 – November 2012

Kenmore, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was the home of Fielding and Betty Washington Lewis.

Fielding Lewis (July 7, 1725 – December 7, 1781) was a Colonel during the American Revolutionary War and the brother-in-law of George Washington. A successful merchant in Fredericksburg, VA, he had a plantation, which later became known as Kenmore.

Lewis married Catharine Washington on October 18, 1746. She was his second cousin and a first cousin to George Washington. They had three children before Catharine died in February1750.

A few months later, on May 7, 1750, Lewis married Betty Washington (1733-1797), the sister of George Washington and another second cousin. She was 17 years old. They had 11 children together.

In 1769, Fielding and Betty started construction of a large Georgian mansion on their property, which was completed in 1775. It has some of the most refined colonial interior finishes of any surviving mansion. Named by later owners as Kenmore Plantation, it has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The originally one-and-a-half story building was expanded to two stories in the early 19th century. Despite competition and changing tastes, the handsome building operated successfully as a store for nearly 100 years, until 1820, when it was finally adapted for residential use. Donated to the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation in 1996, the building has been studied and stabilized for restoration. It is believed to be one of the oldest retail buildings in the United States.

Appropriately, one of the stamps that Danielle used on this postcard was the 2011 George Washinton one