Urbanna in Middlesex County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Wormeley-Lee-Montague House and Marble House
Urbanna, Virginia
The Museum in the Streets
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 25, 2021
1. Wormeley-Lee-Montague House and Marble House Marker
Inscription.
Wormeley-Lee-Montague House and Marble House. Urbanna, Virginia. , Town buildings provide an interesting contrast in American architectural periods. This colonial one and a half story (circa 1747), Wormeley, Lee, Montague House, is the oldest post and beam structure in town. In 1791, Revolutionary War diplomat and signer of The Treaty of Alliance with France, Dr. Arthur Lee acquired Lansdowne in town and also purchased this building. It is believed he used it for his office. When Lee died he left his estate and this house to his brother, Richard Henry Lee, who was author of the Resolution for Independence and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The structure is owned today by the Montague family, owners of the town's colonial customhouse. Across the street and next door to EVB Bank is the Marble House. The town went through a housing spurt in late 19th and early 20th centuries as sea captains and owners of sailing schooners home-ported their vessels on Urbanna Creek and built homes in town. The Marble House was built (circa 1905) by Lord Byron Van Wagnen. L.B., as he was called, was born in Urbanna, on July 25, 1861. He and his father, David, ran a lucrative pile driving business. The business enabled them to invest in sailing schooners and steam powered carrier vessels. L.B. built the Marble House with bricks, wood and marble brought to town from Baltimore on the Van Wagnen's sailing schooners. The marble on the porches and basement floors came from homes destroyed in the "Great Baltimore Fire" of 1904. Other houses in town built by sea captains and sailing vessel owners were the present Atherston Hall Bed and Breakfast on Prince George Street, by Captain J.H. Bohannon, (circa 1880); Urbanna Creek Bed and Breakfast on Watling Street, by Captain E.S. Tomlinson (circa 1890); the Russell A. Davis House next door on Watling Street (circa 1910); and the Make Thyme store building on Prince George Street (1925) both built by Davis, lumberman and owner of several schooners.
Town buildings provide an interesting contrast in American architectural periods. This colonial one and a half story (circa 1747), Wormeley, Lee, Montague House, is the oldest post and beam structure in town. In 1791, Revolutionary War diplomat and signer of The Treaty of Alliance with France, Dr. Arthur Lee acquired Lansdowne in town and also purchased this building. It is believed he used it for his office. When Lee died he left his estate and this house to his brother, Richard Henry Lee, who was author of the Resolution for Independence and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The structure is owned today by the Montague family, owners of the town's colonial customhouse. Across the street and next door to EVB Bank is the Marble House. The town went through a housing spurt in late 19th and early 20th centuries as sea captains and owners of sailing schooners home-ported their vessels on Urbanna Creek and built homes in town. The Marble House was built (circa 1905) by Lord Byron Van Wagnen. L.B., as he was called, was born in Urbanna, on July 25, 1861. He and his father, David, ran a lucrative pile driving business.
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The business enabled them to invest in sailing schooners and steam powered carrier vessels. L.B. built the Marble House with bricks, wood and marble brought to town from Baltimore on the Van Wagnen's sailing schooners. The marble on the porches and basement floors came from homes destroyed in the "Great Baltimore Fire" of 1904. Other houses in town built by sea captains and sailing vessel owners were the present Atherston Hall Bed and Breakfast on Prince George Street, by Captain J.H. Bohannon, (circa 1880); Urbanna Creek Bed & Breakfast on Watling Street, by Captain E.S. Tomlinson (circa 1890); the Russell A. Davis House next door on Watling Street (circa 1910); and the Make Thyme store building on Prince George Street (1925) both built by Davis, lumberman and owner of several schooners.
Erected by The Museum in the Streetsฎ. (Marker Number 7.)
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 25, 2021
2. Wormeley-Lee-Montague House and Marble House Marker
76° 34.676′ W. Marker is in Urbanna, Virginia, in Middlesex County. It is on Virginia Street (Virginia Route 602) just east of Rappahannock Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 290 Virginia Avenue, Urbanna VA 23175, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Tidewater, and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 20, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 25, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 906 times since then and 52 times this year. Last updated on November 19, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on November 25, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
