The Robert E. Lee House is officially called Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial. It is a historic mansion situated on a high hill overlooking the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, within the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. The house was built in the 1800s by George Washington Parke Custis, the step-grandson and adopted son of George Washington. It was intended as a tribute to George Washington and served as the family home.
In 1831, the property passed to Robert E. Lee through marriage to Custis’s daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis. Lee lived there until 1861, when he resigned from the U.S. Army to join the Confederacy. During the Civil War, the U.S. government seized the property, and it eventually became part of Arlington National Cemetery.
The mansion is an example of Greek Revival architecture, with stately columns and sweeping terraces. The grounds offer panoramic views of Washington, DC and the Potomac River. The house is now a National Park Service site and serves as a memorial to Robert E. Lee and the Custis-Lee family.
You can get there by metro or drive. If you drive, there is a parking lot right next to the Arlington National Cemetery Visitor Center. Admission is fee.
I was particularly impressed by the enormous columns standing in front of the mansion. The house itself is smaller than I had expected and only the first-floor rooms are open to the public. It is a very humble house compared to the other house converted museums that I have visited (see my other posts for names). It didn’t take long to walk through the first floor.
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