Stratford Hall tours

Stratford Hall is opening a new run of behind-the-scenes tours this spring, with programs on preservation, archives, and historic landscapes. (tickets.stratfordhall.org) The schedule lists a Preservation Tour on May 16, an Archives Tour on May 31, and a Landscapes Tour on June 20 at Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Stratford Hall posted the lineup on X this week and is selling advance reservations through its ticketing site. (tickets.stratfordhall.org) (x.com) The May 16 program is tied to National Preservation Month and is led by Phil Mark, Stratford Hall’s senior director of preservation. The listing says the tour will focus on the main floor of the 18th-century Great House and recent room restoration projects. (tickets.stratfordhall.org) (stratfordhall.org) The May 31 Archives Tour is framed around the American Revolution and will be guided by Vice President of Research and Collections Gordon Blaine Steffey. Stratford Hall says visitors will see original documents from its holdings, including correspondence tied to Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. (tickets.stratfordhall.org) The June 20 Landscapes Tour is scheduled during National Great Outdoors Month and is led by Director of Landscapes Matt Peterschmidt. The event description says it will cover 18th-century landscapes and the grounds around the Great House. (tickets.stratfordhall.org) (stratfordhall.org) The tours add staff-led access to a site that usually emphasizes self-guided audio visits. Stratford Hall’s regular visitor program includes 28-stop audio tours of the Great House and grounds, with the site open Wednesday through Sunday. (stratfordhall.org) That programming lands as Stratford Hall is also preparing for a larger 2026 public-history push around the 250th anniversary of Richard Henry Lee’s Resolution for Independence. The preserve is promoting a June 6-7 event called “Virginia Resolved” with Westmoreland County and Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission partners. (stratfordhall.org) (tickets.stratfordhall.org) Stratford Hall describes itself as the Lee family home of Virginia and says the preserve spans nearly 2,000 acres along the Potomac River. Its preservation program traces formal stewardship of the property to 1929, when the site was purchased for long-term conservation. (stratfordhall.org 1) (stratfordhall.org 2) For visitors, the new tours turn three parts of the property that usually stay in the background — restoration work, archival collections, and landscape management — into the main event. The dates are now on sale, which gives would-be attendees about a month to plan for the first tour on May 16. (tickets.stratfordhall.org)