until 1968. Upon Pratt's death in 1975, he bequeathed land around the mansion to Stafford County for parks and a large section to the region's YMCA. This also left the manor house and approximately surrounding it to the National Park Service (NPS), which uses it as the headquarters for the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Five rooms are open as a (free) museum during designated hours (with an explanatory video tour); the grounds are open to the public. The rest of the houses and outbuildings serve as administrative offices and maintenance facilities. In 2014, the National Park Service undertook tree removal designed to improve the vistas to and from Chatham. This increased the house's visibility from the city and restored the view to what it had been during the Civil War and preceding decades. Since 2012 the Friends of Chatham, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has provided additional support for preserving the historic house and its grounds. Partnering with local Rotary and garden clubs, the Friends group supplements NPS-budgeted services by providing extensive garden maintenance and plantings. It has also undertaken repairs of the 1940s-era summer house at the edge of the gardens and a statue of Pan in a scenic gazebo overlooking the city, which vandals damaged in 2002, and has begun repairing all 80-plus windows in the original house and outbuildings. Gallery See also Battle of Fredericksburg Historic houses in Virginia Slave rebellions References External links Chatham Manor "Chatham Manor", National Park Service website Chatham Plantation: Witness to the Civil War, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan Conflicts in 1805 Landmarks in Virginia Museums in Fredericksburg, Virginia Historic house museums in Virginia Fitzhugh family residences Virginia in the American Civil War Plantations in Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia American Civil War museums in Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Slave rebellions in the United States Houses in Stafford County, Virginia Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park National Register of Historic Places in Stafford County, Virginia Historic district contributing properties in Virginia Slave cabins and quarters in the United States