Lee-Fendall House
This historic manor has housed politicians, Civil War soldiers, labor leaders, and…ghosts?
Paranormal Reports at
Lee-Fendall House
- The apparition of a woman in a Civil War-era nurses uniform has been seen wandering the house
- A loud and unexplained sound of an antique phone ringing is often heard in the house
- Strange EMF spikes are noted around the house
- A pair of apparitions, a woman and child, are frequently spotted on the back steps of the home
The Legendary Lees:
History of Lee-Fendall House
Incredibly old houses may be a dime a dozen in the historic city of Alexandria, Virginia, but the Lee-Fendall House still manages to stand in a league of its own.
The prowess of the families who have passed through its walls is so great that it consumes not just the house, but the entire block.
Lee Corner, as it is called, features several historic properties, steeped in national significance. All of that historic significance began, centuries ago, with Lee-Fendall House.
And it continues today through both the home’s careful restorations, and its undeniably eerie ghost stories.
Timeline of Lee-Fendall House's History
Swipe or use timeline points to see Lee-Fendall House through the years
1785
In 1785, a team of enslaved laborers brought the Lee-Fendall House to life. The property would become the home of Philip Fendall, a successful local businessman. Fendall had purchased the land for his stately new home from his son-in-law, Continental Army Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee. Not long after the home’s completion, Fendall hosted future US President George Washington for dinner. While that would be the only time the manor hosted a future president, the Lee-Fendall House would later be home to many other famous figures.
1865
Over eighty years, the Lee-Fendall House and ‘Lee Corner’ served generations of Lees. Lee Corner residents included US Attorney General Charles Lee and, most famously, future Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Once the Civil War began, the Union Army took over the Lee-Fendall House for use as a field hospital. When the war ended in 1865, the Lee family had trouble getting it back. The US sold the home to Dr. Robert Fleming, but it still stayed partially in the Lee family through Dr. Fleming’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Lee.
1903
In the early 1900s, there were serious talks about selling Lee-Fendall House out of the Lee family for good. The tenant at the time, Myra Lee Civalier II, threatened to burn the house down if the family tried to sell. But instead, Myra was committed and the home was sold out of the family in 1903. The purchaser, Robert Downham, moved his family right in, and lived there until 1937. That year, he sold it to John Lewis, a labor leader and president of the United Mine Workers Union.
1969
John Lewis lived in Lee-Fendall House until his death in 1969. In 1973, the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation purchased the home and restored it to its historic appearance. The trust opened it to the public the following year. The manor soon became a popular museum in Alexandria, and remains a treasured piece of local history today. As the home stays popular and people continue to visit, stories about strange encounters become more common. From shifting shadows to odd sounds, the unseen forces of the past may linger inside.
Is Lee-Fendall House Haunted?
One of the most regularly reported ghost stories at the Lee-Fendall House is the appearance of a female apparition. Interestingly, this unknown woman always appears wearing an old, 1800s-era nurse’s uniform.
So while her identity will likely never be known, this woman’s ghost is thought to be a remnant of the home’s time as a Civil War hospital.
The spectral nurse doesn’t have any one hotspot, so visitors may have a run-in with her in any room in the house.
And while the phantom nurse wanders around inside, another pair of spirits haunt the surrounding grounds, specifically, the back steps.
Lee Corner’s Outdoor Apparitions
On the Lee-Fendall House’s back steps, two more apparitions frequently manifest. There, and only ever there, the shadowy forms of a woman and a young child appear before passersby. If any startled onlooker keeps watching these mysterious figures, they’ll fade away before their eyes.
Just like the nurse inside, no one knows the identities of these ghostly forms. Could they be residual energies of the Lee family, enjoying their afterlife outside?
Answer a Phantom Phone
Aside from the reports of shadow figures inside and out, another common claim is the sound of an antique phone ringing. That might not be an out-of-place sound in many old homes, but no antique phone has been in use at Lee-Fendall House for generations.
And yet, the sharp sounds of an old phone purportedly trill in strange areas of the home still today.
The phantom phone’s ringing is sometimes so loud that passersby report hearing it from the sidewalk.
Perhaps this is the work of the home’s apparitions, trying to connect with visitors from beyond the grave?
Mysterious Meter Readings
Ghost hunts have never been regularly offered at the Lee-Fendall House. But, in the 2000s, the home was featured on an episode of SyFy’s Ghost Hunters. During that visit, abnormal EMF levels were noted.
But so were naturally high EMF levels, perhaps explaining eerie feelings felt around the house. Additionally, a possible explanation was found for the notorious phone ringing, in a set of bells hung in the kitchen.
Lee-Fendall House’s Eerie Lees
Lee-Fendall House unquestionably earns its place in the annals of US history. With so many famous names and 1800s figures putting roots down in the neighborhood, its preservation was almost inevitable. Thanks to tireless restoration and promotion, tales of history reach far and wide, all stemming from the Lee-Fendall House.
But for every historic story held within, there may be a ghost story to match.
While the home’s busy schedule precludes many ghost tours and hunts, phantom-centered tours are sometimes offered around the Halloween season.
Much mystery remains about the ghosts of the Lee-Fendall House. Who are they? Where did they come from? And when will any of them finally answer that phone?
