{"nrhp_refnum":"72001510","name":"Lee Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Near jct. of U.S. 60 and VA 238","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newport News (Independent City)","county":"Newport News","state":"VA","lat":37.199845896000056,"lon":-76.57525855144289,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-12-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large brick plantation mansion with a brick guest house, on a hill about 0.6 mile northwest of the Route 60 and Route 238 intersection in Newport News, Virginia. Richard Decatur Lee built it between 1848 and 1859.","why_significant":"It is described as the only major nineteenth-century plantation house on Virginia's Lower Peninsula and the only major ante-bellum house in the area. It served as Confederate General J. B. Magruder's headquarters during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. It also blends Italianate, Greek Revival and Gothic features, and the nearby village took its name from it.","narrative":"Lee Hall is a brick plantation mansion on a broad hill in Newport News, Virginia, with a smaller brick guest house to the south. Richard Decatur Lee, a successful planter, built it between 1848 and 1859 on the site of Oak Grove, a colonial frame house lost to fire. The five-bay house rises two stories above an elevated basement and combines an Italianate bracketed cornice, Greek Revival lintels and Gothic engaged columns at the front door. During the Peninsular Campaign of April and May 1862, Confederate General J. B. Magruder used it as headquarters, and a small earthen fort remains on the front lawn. Lee was financially ruined by the war and sold his properties in 1866. A village that grew up after the C & O Railroad arrived in the 1880s took the mansion's name. Restored in 1964-65 after decay, it remains the area's only major ante-bellum house and a long-standing landmark on the old road between Williamsburg and Hampton.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Richard Decatur Lee (builder)","architectural_style":"Blend of Italianate, Greek Revival and Gothic influences","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition and unaltered in original character; restored 1964-65 after falling into decay; occupied as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.379894-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/6820/41682081/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/72001510.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001510/5856972119-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001510/5856972119-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lyricmac","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lee_Hall.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lyricmac</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lee_Hall.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682081","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hall_Mansion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712697"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/newport-news/lee-hall-72001510/"}