03/23/2026
Cobbs Hall Chapter takes its name from Cobbs Hall Plantation, a historic property just outside of Kilmarnock, Virginia, in Northumberland County. The estate is historically significant as the original core plantation of the Lee family of Virginia, whose descendants have served the nation with distinction for generations.
Situated at the center of Dividing Creek with views of the Chesapeake Bay, the property forms the surviving portion of the land patented in 1651 and 1656 by Col. Richard Lee “The Immigrant,” a prosperous merchant, planter, landowner, and politician.
With his wife, Anne Constable Lee, they established the Lee family in Virginia. The property later passed to their son Charles Lee, Sr., and remained in Lee family hands longer than any other Lee estate, until its sale to Mark and Amanda DiRienz in 2009.
The current house, completed in 1853 for Lewis and Martha (Lee) Harvey, is the third residence on the site. It was designed and constructed by noted regional architect E.O. Robinson on the remains of an earlier house built by Charles Lee II in 1720, which was destroyed by fire in 1848.
The 1853 home preserves many distinctive features, including stained-glass transoms and sidelights at its main entry, elaborate plaster cornices and ceiling medallions, and rare Egyptian Revival woodwork.
Although the location of the first Cobbs Hall remains uncertain, it is believed to have stood near the historic Cobbs Hall Burying Grounds, where Col. Richard Lee, Anne Constable Lee, and several generations of their descendants are interred.
In recognition of their careful restoration of Cobbs Hall, Mark and Amanda DiRienz were honored in 2021 with the John Paul Hanbury Award by the Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Society. This award celebrates outstanding restoration or renovation of properties of historic or architectural significance in Virginia’s Northern Neck.
