Carlyle House

Carlyle House is a heritage building, a large and stately mansion, in Alexandria, Virginia. When it was built, in 1751-1752, it lay outside the city. It was built far enough from the river, to be safe from flooding. Its front lawn provided an admirable view of the river.

By the early 1800s Alexandria expanded to near Carlyle House. The estate's owners, wealthy immigrants from England, named Green decided to erect a hotel, known as the Mansion House Hotel, on the road that crossed in front of Carlyle House. The Mansion House Hotel became known as the most luxurious in Alexandria.

The Hotel blocked Carlyle House's view of the River.

In the mid-20th Century most of the Hotel was demolished, restoring the mansion's view of the River.

Union forces captured and occupied Alexandria, and the hotel was requisitioned and turned into the Mansion House Hospital. The Green family fought for decades to be compensated for the income they lost in the years the hotel served as a hospital.

PBS produced a series, Mercy Street, dramatizing the Hotel's use as a Union hospital.