Woodlawn, Federal plantation in Fairfax County, United States
Woodlawn is a mansion on the grounds of a former plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia, built with symmetrical brick walls, tall windows, paired chimneys, and classical details arranged across three stories. The estate also includes surrounding gardens and the Pope-Leighey House, a structure designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright that was relocated to the site.
George Washington gave this land in 1799 to his niece Eleanor Parke Custis and her husband Lawrence Lewis, who built the mansion between 1800 and 1805. When Quaker abolitionists purchased the property in 1846, it began a new chapter as a working demonstration of free labor agriculture.
The property reflects its plantation roots through its physical layout and design, yet its meaning shifted profoundly when Quaker abolitionists purchased it in 1846 and transformed it into a demonstration of free labor practices. Visitors today experience a place where people worked to prove an alternative economic model was possible.
The site sits along Richmond Highway in Alexandria and welcomes visitors through guided tours of the mansion and gardens. Set aside time to explore both buildings and the surrounding grounds, which are spread across hilly terrain.
The estate houses the Pope-Leighey House, a Frank Lloyd Wright design from the 1940s that was moved to the property in the 1960s to rescue it from demolition. This modest home showcases Wright's hallmark design principles and stands in striking contrast to the classical Federal style of the main mansion.
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