National Memorials · Virginia
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
National Park Service source material · single source. Source dates and reuse information are available beside each field.
Check the official park website for current access, conditions and visitor information.
Introduction
Background: 1
Arlington House is the nation’s memorial to Robert E. Lee. It honors him for specific reasons, including his role in promoting peace and reunion after the Civil War. In a larger sense it exists as a place of study and contemplation of the meaning of some of the most difficult aspects of American history: military service; sacrifice; citizenship; duty; loyalty; slavery and freedom.
Geography
Designation: 3
National Memorial
State or territory: 4
Virginia
First Floor Plan - Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial: 5
Map scope: Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
First level floor plan of Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial in Virginia. The footprints of interior rooms are shown in pale sage green and the exterior Portico in darker moss green. Two independent structures with three rooms are at the top corners of the map.
History and culture
Virtual Tour: 6
See Arlington House as it appeared in 1861, when Robert E. Lee resigned his commission from the United States Army after 32 years of service and the Lee family left Arlington House.
People: 7
The Arlington House story is a collection of events and personalities. At Arlington House, the staff work to bring these stories to life. Learn more about the site's history by looking at these links.
Stories: 8
In 1802, construction began on Arlington House. In the ensuing years, it has served as a family home, a military headquarters, a national cemetery, and much more. On these pages are some of the stories of Arlington House.
Center Hall: 9
Life at Arlington House was distinguished by warm hospitality, close family relationships, religion and education. Visitors were greeted in the Central Hall by the enslaved butler/coachman Daniel Dobson. Guests were political or artistic friends of Mr. Custis, military friends of the Lees, social acquaintances, visiting relatives, or total strangers on pilgrimage to see the "Washington Treasures" kept at the house.
Robert E. Lee was away on army assignments most of the 30 years he lived here; his wife and family sometimes accompanied him. This hall witnessed sad farewells and happy homecomings: The seven Lee children came and went to be with their parents, attend boarding school, or stayed behind in the care of their Custis grandparents.
During the hot summer, the hall became a "Summer Parlor." The spacious hall, with its tall doors and ceilings, provided a breezy respite from the heat. Sofas and chairs provided comfort and a forum for lively conversation or reading aloud from a novel or the Bible.
Conservatory: 10
Mrs. Custis, Mrs. Lee , and the Lee daughters used this sunny room to tender plants. Alternatively called a “conservatory,” “greenhouse,” and “Camellia House,” this room and the flower garden outside were places of responsibility and enjoyment for the ladies of Arlington.
The room was originally a cloister or porch formed by Roman arches on the west and south. Later, it was enclosed and a stove was added to provide warmth for the plants. It appears that the only set of stairs connecting the Conservatory to the rest of the house were the stairs that led into the Office . This is because, as a working greenhouse, the conservatory would not have been used as an entrance or traffic passage.
Guest Chamber: 11
Mary Custis Lee lived here until the center section and second floor of the house were finished in 1818. The room then served as a guest chamber. Years later, some of the Lee children stayed here during the family's travels to Robert's many army postings. Daughter Mary Lee slept here when the rest of the family was staying in St. Louis in the late 1830s, and Annie and Agnes Lee used this room during their parents' time living at West Point.
Family Parlor: 12
The House’s Spiritual Center This parlor was the center of religious life at the mansion. Family, guests, and enslaved household workers gathered here for morning and evening prayers led by the Custis-Lee women. Robert and Mary Lee married in this room. According to oral tradition, enslaved workers Thornton and Selina Gray and Charles and Maria Syphax , George Washington Parke Custis’ daughter, also held their weddings here. Robert E. Lee and Mary Custis Lee married in this room on June 30, 1831. Their wedding joined two of the most prominent families in not only Virginia, but in the entire American South.
Center Hall | Conservatory | Custis Bedchamber | Custis Guest Room | Dining Room | Family Parlor | Hunting Hall | Morning Room | Office | School Room | White Parlor | South Slave Quarters Museum Exhibit | Smokehouse | Selina Gray's Quarters | North Slave Quarters Museum Exhibit | Miss Judy's Quarters | George Clark's Room and Summer Kitchen | Museum Return to Virtual Tour Ready for the real thing? Plan Your Visit
Hunting Hall: 13
This Hall, located at the rear of the house, served as a trophy case for George Washington Parke Custis. George Washington Parke Custis was an avid hunter, beginning from the time of his youth at Mount Vernon. At Arlington Plantation, he reserved about 600 acres of virgin timberland in the western portion of his estate for hunting deer and other game. Custis was also a self-taught artist, and he is believed to have painted the three frescos found on the upper portion of the Hunting Hall walls, all hunting scenes. Two of the scenes might regarded as Virginia hunt scenes, but the third scene is distinctly different; it depicts a lion and tiger fighting. In recent years, the inspiration for this unusual fresco has been identified as a 1799 mezzotint engraving by James Ward (1769-1859), a noted English artist and member of the British Royal Academy who specialized in animal paintings.
Center Hall | Conservatory | Custis Bedchamber | Custis Guest Room | Dining Room | Family Parlor | Hunting Hall | Morning Room | Office | School Room | White Parlor | South Slave Quarters Museum Exhibit | Smokehouse | Selina Gray's Quarters | North Slave Quarters Museum Exhibit | Miss Judy's Quarters | George Clark's Room and Summer Kitchen | Museum Return to the Virtual Tour Ready for the real thing? Plan Your Visit
George Clark's Room and Summer Kitchen: 14
A Home without a Family George Clark, the cook, and Ephraim Derricks, the valet and gardener, lived in this room. Although both men were married, their wives did not live on the estate, a common reality for enslaved families. The heat from the kitchen warmed this space in the winter, but made it unbearable in the hot, humid Virginia summer. Culinary Traditions Below is the summer kitchen. Despite its name, this kitchen was used year-round. Here, three to six enslaved workers prepared meals for the Custis-Lee family and their guests. Enslaved workers likely planned their cooking around the daylight hours. Cooking at plantations like Arlington House required specialized culinary knowledge, and cooks used techniques and flavors passed down from Africa. Traditions such as slow-cooking and deep-frying forged in plantation kitchens have greatly influenced American cooking. According to family tradition, Arlington cook George Clark was born at Mount Vernon and may have worked in the kitchen there before coming to Arlington.
History & Culture: 15
Welcome to Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial. Constructed between 1802 and 1818, the house was built to be both the residence of George Washington Parke Custis and as the nation's first memorial to his adoptive grandfather, George Washington. The house became the repository of hundreds of relics and artifacts that once belonged to George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon. Custis' daughter Mary Anna Randolph Custis married Second Lieutenant Robert E. Lee in the house in 1831. The house became the property of Mary and Robert Lee and their children in 1857. During the American Civil War, the house and grounds were seized by the United States Army who proceeded to turn the plantation into a military cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery. The house would later serve as the office of the superintendent of the Cemetery. Since 1933, the National Park Service has served as the steward of this important resource to ensure its preservation for future generations. The property is connected to many important figures, issues and events in United States history. Over the 60 years leading up to the Civil War, Arlington House was also home to nearly 100 enslaved African Americans who lived and labored on the estate. The National Park Service interprets not only the history of Robert E. Lee and his family, but also the stories of the enslaved people, including the Syphax, Burke, Parks, and Gray families, to present a more complete story of life at Arlington House.
Visitor information
Visitation
Sources & field notes
Source records (19)
Select a numbered reference to open a source card. Retrieval dates describe this edition’s source capture, rather than an independent verification or the date of the underlying information.
Background · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial · NPS. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Catalog image date
- 11/11/2004
- Source scope
- Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Public domain:Full Granting Rights
- Rights
- Public domain:Full Granting Rights
Designation · National Park System directory. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.
State or territory · National Park System directory. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.
First Floor Plan - Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial · National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source scope
- Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
- Download
- Official map PDF ↗
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Public domain; NPS map
- Rights
- Public domain; NPS map
Virtual Tour · Virtual Tour — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- July 14, 2024
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
People · People — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- June 22, 2021
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Stories · Stories — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- April 18, 2024
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Center Hall · Center Hall — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- August 12, 2025
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Conservatory · Conservatory — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- July 13, 2021
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Guest Chamber · Guest Chamber — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- July 14, 2024
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Family Parlor · Family Parlor — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- June 30, 2021
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Hunting Hall · Hunting Hall — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- June 17, 2021
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
George Clark's Room and Summer Kitchen · George Clark's Room and Summer Kitchen — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- June 17, 2021
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
History & Culture · National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party material may have separate rights. No images copied.
Physical Address · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Mailing Address · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Telephone · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Recreation visits · National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics. Open source ↗
- Information date
- 2025
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Methodology
- NPS reporting unit; annual total is the sum of 12 monthly recreation visit estimates.
- Reporting unit
- Arlington House The R.E. Lee MEM
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.