Arlington House, home Lee loved,
now renovated, reopened to public

Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial formerly named the Custis-Lee Mansion, is a Greek revival style structure located in Arlington, Va.

Once the home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, it overlooks the Potomac River and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. During the Civil War, the grounds of the mansion were selected as the site of Arlington National Cemetery, in part to ensure that Lee would never again be able to return to his home. However, the United States has since designated the mansion as a National Memorial to Lee, a mark of widespread respect for him in both the North and South.

Arlington House reopened April 20 after being closed six years for renovation.  During that time, the restoration project included the addition of modern museum features, plus fire suppression and climate management systems. It took two years to remove the many layers of paint on the walls, leading to the discovery of graffiti left by Union soldiers who occupied the house.

Furniture at Arlington House, comprising 3,300 of the more than 41,000 artifacts in the collection, was stored at Friendship Hill National Historic Site near Point Marion, Pa. Everything was back in place for the reopening.

George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington’s stepgrandson, built Arlington House during the years of 1802-18. Reared by Washington as if he were his own child, Custis is considered the country’s first presidential son. Custis lived at the mansion for 55 years, dedicating his life “to memorializing the memory of that great man.”

Custis’ oldest daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, who was born at Arlington House in 1808, played with young Robert E. Lee as a child when the Lee family visited.

That childhood friendship blossomed into something more as they grew older. Mary Custis was courted by many young men, including Tennessee Congressman Sam Houston. She married Lee, a U.S. Army lieutenant, in the Arlington House parlor on June 30, 1831.

They lived in the Custis mansion, sleeping in Mary’s childhood bedroom. Six of the couple’s seven children were born there.

Lee was said to have loved the 8,000-square-foot house more than any other place on earth.

A fateful decision by Lee would forever change his relationship with Arlington House. When he resigned from the U.S. Army, April 20, 1861, he sacrificed the home that he and his family loved so dearly.

Union troops occupied Lee’s home on May 24, 1861. In January 1864, the U.S. Government legally purchased the property at an auction. By August 1864, some of the land was appropriated as a military cemetery that evolved into Arlington National Cemetery.

Following the war, the Lees moved to Lexington, Va., where he was president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) until his death in 1870.

In 1925, Congress unanimously voted to restore the home to honor Lee, the only time the U.S. Government has dedicated a national memorial to a man who fought against it.

The memorial was dedicated to Lee for his role after the war in promoting national reconciliation.

The house is said to be “a cannon shot away from the White House.” Its strategic location meant that Union forces had to control it in any upcoming war.