Conclusion
THE ANCIENT MANSION SEATS
Visitors to the Northern Neck often ask the question: "Where are the old houses?"
Most of the remaining ancient seats are off the beaten path due to the fact that when they were built the rivers, creeks and bays were the highways.
Many of the old houses burned, either accidentally or during the wars. Others fell into decay during the years of depression following the Civil War, and after traffic by boat was discontinued.
Some of the early homes were remodeled beyond recognition, or torn down to give way for new buildings. Some were bought by persons of wealth and faithfully restored by them. A few of the old seats are still owned and lived in by descendants of the original planters who built them.
Portions of some of the old mansions of the Northern Neck found their way into museums. An instance of this is a room from Marmion, a Fitzhugh home of King George County. The Marmion Room in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is described in the museum literature as follows: "Of all the rooms we have gathered together, possibly the most extraordinary and impressive is the one from Marmion."
Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County had been lost to the Lee family in 1820. Many years later, in 1929, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Incorporated, was organized to acquire, restore, furnish and preserve the Stratford plantation. After a great deal of dedicated effort by a great many people this goal was finally achieved. Under the painstaking guidance of the ladies of the Foundation Thomas Lee's mansion was restored to its original splendor. The garden was restored by the Garden Club of Virginia.