and one of those men was john lee pratt. he had grown up here in the fredericksburg area, just kind of a poor farm boy, had gone off to college, did very well for himself and ultimately became an executive first in the dupont corporation and then in general motors where he ultimately became vice chairman of general motors corporation. he would retire in the middle of the 20th century and move back to fredericksburg. at that point he and his wife decided they needed a place to live. lo and behold, chatham was up for sale at that time. mrs. pratt liked it. and so john lee pratt bought it again for $150,000. and he would live here for the remainder of his life up until he gave it to us in 1975. the gardens actually were on the front of the house when the civil war began. entirely obliterated. if you look at pictures of the house, we have one in the other room, of that side of the house during the war, you'll see no vestige of a garden. the descriptions of it make it seem very magnificent. after the war was over in the 1920s, th