Sanders Family

Originally a part of a Land Patent dated 1652 and granted to Major John Hallowes, whose descendents in 1732 deeded this land to Col. Thomas Lee of Stratford, it then became a part of the Stratford Plantation. On January 6, 1763, Philip Ludwell Lee, eldest son of Col. Thomas Lee, deeded 500 acres of the easternmost part of the Stratford Plantation to his brother, Richard Henry Lee, who built his home there and named it Chantilly after the famous Chateau Chantilly, home of his boyhood friend the Prince of Conde.

After Richard Henry Lee's death in 1794, Chantilly came into the possession of General Henry Lee (father of Robert E. Lee), who on June 14, 1797, sold the Chantilly tract to Josiah Watson of Fairfax county.

As late as 1871, chimney’s of 2 dependencies could still be seen and were thought to be the kitchen and Lee’s office, along with 5 slave cabins.  The house was said to have been shelled during the War of 1812, and thereafter slowly fell apart and pieces taken for use in other buildings.