The historic Carlyle House was completed in 1753 by Scottish merchant John Carlyle for his bride, Sarah Fairfax of Belvoir, member of one of the most prestigious families in colonial Virginia. Their home quickly became a center of social and political life in Alexandria and gained a foothold in history when British General Braddock made the mansion his headquarters in 1755. Braddock summoned five royal governors to meet there to plan the early campaigns of the French and Indian War. On the National Register of Historic Places, Carlyle House is architecturally unique in Alexandria as the only stone, 18th-century Palladian-style house. Daily tours of the house, programs for schoolchildren, special events, exhibits and lectures explore the life and times of John Carlyle in pre-Revolutionary Alexandria. The site may be rented in the evenings for private functions and weddings.

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