This gracious Federal-era estate reflects the refinement of its original owners, Lawrence Lewis and Nelly Custis Lewis. Favored relatives of George Washington, whose own Mount Vernon lies only three miles away, the Lewises brought to their home many of the furnishings and memorabilia of the original Washington estate. In 1846 the family offered Woodlawn at public sale. The land was purchased by a group of Quaker businessmen, who divided it into separate farms for a Quaker community and then passed through a succession of private owners. In 1949 a locally formed group, the Woodlawn Public Foundation, purchased the house, and in 1957 the estate became the property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.