Mr. & Mrs. Custis's Chamber

he Custises used this room as their bed chamber when the North Wing, the oldest part of the house, was first completed. When the center section of the house was completed in 1818, Mr. and Mrs. Custis moved upstairs but later moved back to this downstairs bed chamber to accommodate the growing Lee family's need for bedrooms. It was here that Mr. Custis died in 1857.

	View of Mr. & Mrs. Custis's Chamber from Inner Hall.

After Mr. Custis' death, the room probably was used only occasionally, as a guest room. In 1858, Colonel Lee considered giving it to a new overseer but this did not happen and it can be assumed the room had changed little since the Custises used it. The closet to the right of the fireplace is a walk-in and opens into the schoolroom, while the closet to the left is very shallow.

Today, the bed is original, one of two original beds in the house. The fireplace is also original and is the oldest in the house. The mantle, which is painted wood with applied plaster decoration, was originally intended for the banquet room which was to have been in this wing. But, this planned banquet room was partitioned and served as Mr. and Mrs. Custis' Chamber, a School and Sewing Room, Guest Chamber, and Inner Hall.

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