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[[File:Mcleanhouse parlor 2008 08 21.jpg|thumb|Replicas of the tables used by Lee and Grant in the McLean house for the surrender documents.]]
The '''McLean House''' near [[Appomattox, Virginia|Appomattox]], Virginia is within the [[Appomattox Court House National Historical Park]]. The house was owned by [[Wilmer McLean]] and his wife Virginia near the end of the [[American Civil War]].
The farmhouse represents the historical style of construction in Piedmont Virginia of the mid-nineteenth century. The current building is a reconstructed form of the original using the original materials. It was carefully deconstructed in the 1890s for shipment and display in Washington, D.C., but those plans fell through, and the materials remained on site. In the 1940s, it ended up in the hands of the [[National Park Service]] and was reconstructed on its original foundation, opening to the public in 1949. It was recorded in the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and in the National Park Service's database of Official Structures in 1989.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse1A">{{cite web|url= http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=VA&PARK=APCO&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=4|title= List of Classified Structures-McLean House|access-date= 2009-01-21|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120529025929/http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=VA&PARK=APCO&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=4|archive-date= 2012-05-29|url-status= dead|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
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The McLean House was originally constructed by Charles Raine in 1848.<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite book|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Appomattox Court House / Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (version from Virginia Department of Historic Resources, including maps) |url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Appomattox/006-0033_Appomattox_Courthouse_National_Historical_Park_1966_Final_Nomination.pdf |format=pdf |date=May 8, 1989 |author1=Jon B. Montgomery |author2=Reed Engle |author3=Clifford Tobias |name-list-style=amp |publisher=National Park Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115233534/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Appomattox/006-0033_Appomattox_Courthouse_National_Historical_Park_1966_Final_Nomination.pdf |archive-date=January 15, 2009 }} and {{NRHP url|id=66000827|title=''Accompanying 12 photos, undated (version from Federal website)''|photos=y}} {{small|(32 KB)}} and [http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Appomattox/Court_House_photo.htm one photo, undated, at Virginia DHR]<!---Note Federal text version at {{NRHP url|id=66000827}} is incomplete: does not include Section 11 or maps---></ref> Eliza D. Raine's estate sold the house to [[Wilmer McLean]] in 1863. It had formerly been a tavern (not to be confused with the nearby [[Clover Hill Tavern]], which Raine had previously owned). One of the first battles of the [[American Civil War]] took place on the farm of Wilmer McLean at the [[Bull Run (Occoquan River)|Bull Run tributary]], the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] (First Battle of Manassas). Soon after that battle the McLeans, seeking to avoid the war, moved to the village of Clover Hill, Virginia (the name of which was changed to "Appomattox Court House," having just become the county seat). Because of the name of the village, many mistakenly think the surrender was signed in the courthouse building. (In years past, the county seats of many rural counties, especially in Virginia, had names that were simply the name of the county plus "Court House"; some of these remain today.){{sfn|Fiske|1902|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=UiQSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA45 45]}} The courthouse is about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} from the [[Appomattox Station]] where the trains came into [[Appomattox, Virginia|Appomattox]], Virginia.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse3">{{cite web|url= http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc9/appomattox_guide11.htm|title= 1961 Park tour guide brochure|access-date= 2009-01-21|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100306180829/http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc9/appomattox_guide11.htm|archive-date= 2010-03-06|url-status= dead|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
Because the First Battle of Bull Run, fought on July 21, 1861, took place on Wilmer McLean's farm about {{convert|120|mi|km}} to the north in Virginia, it can be said that the Civil War started in McLean's backyard in 1861 and ended in his parlor in 1865 (although neither event marked the true beginning or ending of hostilities). McLean was a retired [[Major (rank)|major]] in the Virginia [[militia]]. He was too old to enlist at the outbreak of the Civil War and decided to move to get away from the Civil War. After the war, he would say of himself that he moved because he loved peace, but he made a small fortune running sugar through the Union blockade. He was also a slave owner, and there are slave quarters next to McLean's house. Nonetheless, in the morning of [[Palm Sunday]] April 9, 1865, the war came back to McLean when General [[Robert E. Lee]] surrendered to [[Lieutenant General]] [[Ulysses S. Grant]] at his home.{{sfn|Kantor|2016|pp=75–88}}
The terms of surrender were: "The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands,"... neither "side arms of the officers nor their private horses or baggage" to be surrendered; and, as many privates in the Confederate Army owned horses and mules, all horses and mules claimed by men in the Confederate Army to be left in their possession. The table and chairs used by Lee and Grant when negotiating the surrender are now part of the collections of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Museum of American History]], and the [[Chicago History Museum]].{{sfn|Kurin|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ac4nDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA234&pg=PA234 234]}} After the surrender, many Union soldiers purchased some of McLean's furniture; however, some was stolen.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse3"/> McLean sold pictures of his house after the Civil War; however, he failed financially.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse3"/>
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Although he had made a considerable fortune smuggling sugar, McLean's money was in [[Confederate States dollar|Confederate currency]], which became worthless with the collapse of the Confederacy, and he was nearly ruined by the end of the war. In the fall of 1867 the McLeans left Appomattox Court House for Mrs. McLean's estate in [[Prince William County, Virginia|Prince William County]], Virginia. The banking house of Harrison, Goddin, and Apperson of [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], Virginia, obtained a judgment against Wilmer McLean when he defaulted on loans against the property. The house, by then known as the "Surrender House", was sold at [[public auction]] on November 29, 1869, and purchased by John L. Pascoe. Records show he then rented it to the Ragland family of Richmond, Virginia.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse1">{{cite web|url= http://www.nps.gov/apco/mclean-house.htm |title= The McLean House – The Post War Years|access-date= 2009-01-21|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
The renter Nathaniel H. Ragland then purchased the property for $1,250 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=1250|start_year=1872}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) in 1872. After Nathaniel died in 1888, his widow Martha sold the property in 1891 for $10,000 to a Captain [[Myron Dunlap]] of [[Niagara Falls, New York|Niagara Falls]], New York. Dunlap and some other investors who participated devised a few plans intending to capitalize on the historical significance of the property. One scheme they came up with was to move the disassembled house to Washington, D.C., to become a permanent display as a Civil War museum.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.civilwar-books.com/McLeanHouseEnlarged-Writeup.htm|title= The McLean House write-up|access-date= 2009-01-21|publisher= National Park Service|archive-date= 2008-11-19|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081119234151/http://www.civilwar-books.com/McLeanHouseEnlarged-Writeup.htm|url-status= dead}}</ref> There they would charge entrance fees to view the "surrender house" that ended the Civil War. They hired architects to measure drawings including elevations. They also hired contractors for materials specifications lists. The house was disassembled piece by piece and packed for shipping. At this point the investors involved ran out of money and legal problems came about. This scheme was never brought to fruition. The house became just a heaping piles of boards and bricks and sat prey to vandals, collectors, and the environment for fifty years.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse1"/>
==Appomattox Court House National Historical Park==
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[[Category:Houses completed in 1848]]
[[Category:Slave cabins and quarters in the United States]]
[[Category:Brick buildings and structures in Virginia]]
[[Category:1848 establishments in Virginia]]
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