Historic Blenheim and the Civil War Interpretive Center

Take a trip back in time to 19th-century Virginia in the heart of metropolitan Washington. The 12-acre site features historic buildings  and beautiful vistas that transport visitors to Fairfax of yesteryear.  The modern Civil War Interpretive Center furthers the Civil War interpretation through its gallery and program space. The site is used for educational tours and  programs, lectures by prominent scholars, Civil War living history events, and demonstrations. The Historic Blenheim home is a central-hall plan brick farmhouse built by Albert Willcoxon (c. 1859) just prior to the Civil War (1861-65).  It is nationally significant for the more than 120 signatures, art, games, thoughts, and poetry left on the house walls by Union soldiers during their occupation of the Fairfax Court House area in 1862-63. The house contains one of the most voluminous and best-preserved examples of Civil War inscriptions in the nation, a "diary on walls" providing insight into typical soldier life during the Civil War as well as the effect of the war on local residents such as the Willcoxon family. House inscriptions and pictographs are also reproduced and discussed in detail in the replica attic with full-scale images in the Civil War Interpretive Center. The house is open for tours of the first floor at 1 pm Tuesday through Saturday.