The Home George Washington Bought for His Mother
In 1772, a Virginia colonel bought a house in Fredericksburg for his aging mother. The colonel was George Washington, and the house at 1200 Charles Street still stands, furnished as Mary Ball Washington would have known it during the seventeen years she lived there.
Visitors tour rooms filled with period furnishings and some of Mary’s own possessions, including the dressing mirror she called her best dressing glass. Costumed interpreters bring her world to life, and the restored garden behind the house remains one of downtown’s most peaceful corners.
The guest list alone tells you what this address once meant. The Marquis de Lafayette called on Mary here, and figures like Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and George Mason passed through this modest home at the center of a young nation’s story.
Surrounding Areas
- Rising Sun Tavern: A 1760 house built by Charles Washington, George’s youngest brother, later a busy colonial tavern.
- Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop: A restored colonial medical shop where the future Revolutionary War general practiced for about fifteen years.
- James Monroe Museum: The nation’s largest collection of artifacts from the fifth president, a few blocks away on Charles Street.
- Hurkamp Park: A downtown park with brick walks and a fountain that hosts the city farmers market.
Other Nearby Points of Interest
- Fredericksburg Battlefield
Preserves the Sunken Road and Marye’s Heights, where the December 1862 battle turned. Fourteen Union assaults broke against the stone wall that still lines the road today. - Chatham Manor
Watches over the river from Stafford Heights, a Georgian mansion with three centuries of stories. Tradition holds it is the only private home visited by both Washington and Lincoln. - Historic Kenmore
Was the home of Mary’s daughter Betty Washington Lewis and is famed for its ornate plaster ceilings. Her husband Fielding spent his fortune arming Virginia’s forces during the Revolution. - Riverfront Park
Brings play areas, an event lawn, and river views to Sophia Street downtown. Opened in 2022, it quickly became one of the busiest public spaces in the city.
History of the Mary Washington House
George Washington purchased the Mary Washington House from Michael Robinson in 1772 so his mother could live near her daughter Betty at Kenmore, a few blocks away. Mary spent the rest of her life here, and in April 1789 her most famous visitor arrived. George came to receive his mother’s blessing before leaving to be inaugurated as the first president. She died later that year.
The house nearly left Fredericksburg entirely. In 1890 buyers planned to take it apart and ship it to the Chicago World’s Fair as an exhibit, and only a rescue by Preservation Virginia kept it on Charles Street. It opened to the public in 1900 and was carefully restored in 1931.
Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and operated by Washington Heritage Museums, the house remains what it has always been, a family home that happened to belong to the most famous family in America.
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