Anna Bryant Hill Stansfield inherited an assortment of furniture and household accessories from her great grandmother Melissa Ann Wood, who settled in Alexandria in 1857. In 1989, Mrs. Stansfield was honored when the Lee-Fendall museum accepted a loan of her treasured family heirlooms. Her children, Louisa Stansfield Bennett and Ross Stansfield, decided to continue their mother’s interest in preserving Alexandria history by gifting all of the family items that had been on loan at the Lee-Fendall House for so many years. Ross and Louisa hope this gift will bring continued interest in the types of furniture and items found in the home circa late 1850s. 

Melissa Ann Wood’s residence on South Washington Street where most pieces were located before they were loaned, and now donated, to the Lee-Fendall House.

In May of 2023, 40 objects from the Stansfield Family were gifted to the Lee-Fendall House, including the horsehair chair and Victorian settee that are in the north parlor and pictured below. Lee-Fendall House is most grateful for the Stansfield Family’s donation as all of their pieces are vital to the interpretation of the period rooms throughout the house.