Sully Historic Site

Description:

• Sully Plantation, a two-and-a-half-story farmhouse, was built in 1794 by Richard Bland Lee, younger brother of Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee (and thus an uncle of Robert E. Lee), who lived here with his wife, Elizabeth Collins Lee, until 1811. The original plantation had more than 3,000 acres. Washington Dulles International Airport now occupies most of the land, leaving the main house and original stone dairy, smokehouse, and kitchen building. Unlike many Virginia plantations open to the public, this one does a fine job of demonstrating the harshness of everyday life for the plantation's enslaved African-American workers on its "Forgotten Road Tours" of the reconstructed slave quarters. You must take a tour to see the house and slave quarters, but you can wander around the grounds and look into the outbuilding windows on your own. Call for a schedule of events, which include an antique car show in June and a quilt show in September.

• © Frommer's 2013