George Washington purchased this house for his mother from Micheal Robinson in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1772 for 275 pounds.

Mary Ball Washington spent her last few years in the white frame house that sites on the corner of Charles and Lewis Street.

Among those stopping by to pay their respects were John Marshall, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, Marquis de Lafayette, and members of the Lee family.

In 1891, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities acquired the house, which was scheduled to be disassembled for travel to the Chicago World's Fair for display.

The APVA recovered 8 objects original to the house,[3] including a mirror Mary Washington once labeled her "best dressing glass".