touring The Kenmore and Meditation Rock

I never heard of the Kenmore or Meditation Rock before my trip to Virginia.  Hell, I never thought of myself visiting Virginia before this trip.  When you arrive in the area there is something so humbling when you find yourself walking in our forefathers’ footsteps. I have been to Civil War battlegrounds before, but it is a bit surreal to be surrounded by Revolutionary history.

Now that we have joined the George Washington fan club, we decided to hit all places Washington while in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  That is what led us to the historic Kenmore.  It was the home of Fielding and Betty Washington (George’s sister) Lewis.  They were part of the gentry and were one of the richest families in town.

Again, I am not a historian by any means, so don’t come for me internet.  These are my opinions and experiences from knowledge shared at the tour.

The Kenmore was built in the 1770’s and used to be part of a 1300-acre plantation in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  The lavish home displayed the wealth and status of Fielding and Betty.  Sadly, Fielding and Betty would not spend the rest of their years here as they had planned.

When the Revolutionary War started, Fielding, not being able to fight, but being the richest man in town, started cash-flowing guns for the colonists to use to win their independence. The new Congress promised to reimburse Fielding for his contribution however, that money never was paid back, and Fielding Lewis died broke.  In order to survive and pay for the debts that had occurred from using the family cashflow on weapons instead of their daily living expenses the home was sold in 1797.  It is claimed that Fielding was owed more than 2 million dollars in today’s currency. From what we learned on the tour, to this day the family never saw any of this money.

The home passed through different owners until the 1920’s when the mansion was purchased in order to save its history and turn it into a museum that you can visit today. We bought a combo ticket for $22 bucks to get us into Ferry Farm and tour the Kenmore, not bad.

You can walk around the grounds at your own leisure and go through the exhibits inside before meeting up for your timed house tour.

We were lucky and got Cathy from our Ferry Farm tour, and we were the only ones!  No Know it All Ned today!  We felt pretty swanky to get a private tour.   She gave us the rundown on the history of the family on the walk to the main house.  There are three houses!  One is the kitchen, one is the laundry, and then there is the main house where the living quarters are located. This surprised me because this was the first time I have ever seen this kind of set up.  I am a big fan of living history museums and none of the main houses I have ever seen were ever this way.  Maybe an east coast thing?

Some people claim to be born in the wrong century.  Sometimes I think I may have been better in another era. After this tour let me tell you, I would have never made it in the American Revolution.  I know I would have been a terrible member of the lower class and of the gentry.  Gentry is a term for upper-class for all you that did not know, I have already used that term without explanation.  I will also tell you that I have only known that word for 5 minutes.

As a member of the gentry, Betty and Fielding were expected to entertain and keep up to high society standards.  Betty was in charge of every room, and every room had a key which resided on a keyring with the lady of the house.  Each room had a door that required a key to open.  This is too much for me, I cannot even keep up with the key to my backdoor. And entertaining, as an introvert, that is a hard no for me.

The house itself was amazing  because it is almost as original as it comes. Cathy said it was about 85% original.  We were also informed that not a cannon ball blasted through the side of the house during the Civil War.  So this place made it through 2 wars.  Just goes to show the power of building your house with bricks.  That third pig knew what he was doing for sure.

The Kenmore is known for its ceilings.  The intricate detail in each room and theme was amazing.  Due to these delicate details and the fact that it is made of  plaster the public is no longer allowed to go upstairs.  I was only allowed to take one picture inside as well, that was of the ceiling.

The tour and ground will take roughly 1-2 hours to go through.  More if you like to absorb the history around you.

After our tour, we decided to check out Meditation Rock.  Again, never heard of this either.  This is the place where Mary Washington would go to pray for her son’s safety during the Revolutionary War. Mary would later be buried here. 

This is the nation’s only monument in the United Stated that was built for a woman with the funds raised by women.  Girl Power! 

It was powerful to be in the same place where the mother of one of our forefathers went to seek solace and peace.  The rock is still there, although it is still accessible, there was not much solace going on when we visited, as there was an epic tennis match going on below by the locals.

I learned a lot from this trip.  There are places in this country that may not call to you, but you should never write them off.  Part of the adventure is just going.  I am glad I got to see these things and look forward to going back one day.