The original Magnolia House at Fort Eustis was built in the mid-17th Century by some of the first Jamestown colonists. Over 100 years later the house and land served as an observation post for sentries in the Revolutionary War watching for British shipping in the James River. During the 1862 Peninsular Campaign of the Civil War, the house was destroyed, but the land would be purchased by William Lee of the Lee Hall family in 1866. A new home was built on the site and this would form the structure that would survive into the 21st Century.
The US Government bought the property in 1918 from Charles Bailey who had owned the home and land since 1908 and the area became known as Camp Abraham Eustis. The area near the house was used for the Balloon Observation School throughout WWI. In the 1920s and early 1930s the house was used both as officers quarters and at times the Officers' Club. During the latter half of the 1930s the house was used as a staff residence for other federal agencies after the Army closed Camp Eustis, but in 1940 the needs of the Army once again reopened the base and it was named Fort Eustis. The house was renovated for use as officers' quarters while the Officers' club was located next to it. The house became the permanent residence for the Chief of Transportation in the 1950s and in May of 1970 was officially named the Magnolia House.
In 2010, the Transportation Center was moved from Fort Eustis to Fort Lee. The historic home was subsequently demolished and replaced by a b and stand for summer concerts. The new Magnolia House constructed on Fort Lee has housed the Chief of Transportation since September 2010.

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