1868 Magnolia House Inn

As you ascend the stairs to the second story, you notice that the old house creaks a bit and some of the floors have a slight tilt—no surprise when you realize this Lexington, Virginia bed and breakfast was built a hundred and forty years ago. The year was 1868, the same year that Strauss composed Tales from the Vienna Woods in the mid-Victorian Era. The War Between the States had ended three years before, and Robert E. Lee, former General-in-chief of the Confederate forces, was President of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington. Part of Lee's legacy is the beautiful Victorian chapel that he commissioned to be built on the campus by William Pole. The completion in 1868 of what is now known as Lee Chapel enabled Pole to purchase land on South Main Street in Lexington and to erect for himself the Victorian home—of simple lines and gracious proportions—that has become the 1868 Magnolia House Inn.