Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, Manor house in Arlington County, United States.
Arlington House is a manor house in Arlington County, Virginia, standing on a hilltop above the Potomac River and Washington DC. The building shows Greek Revival design with large white columns at the front and several rooms inside that are open to visitors.
George Washington Parke Custis built the house between 1803 and 1818 as a memorial to George Washington, his grandmother Martha's husband, who raised him at Mount Vernon. His daughter Mary Anna married Robert E. Lee in 1831, and the couple lived here until 1861. The U.S. Army then seized the estate for a headquarters and cemetery.
The building bears the name of General Robert E. Lee, who lived here after marrying Mary Anna Custis. Visitors today can walk through the rooms and see furniture, paintings, and personal belongings that show how families lived in the early 19th century.
The mansion sits on a hilltop inside Arlington National Cemetery, reached on foot from the cemetery's visitor areas; the house and its slave quarters, garden and museum are open to walk through. The flag above the grounds flies at half-staff whenever a funeral is in progress nearby. L'Enfant's grave lies in front of the mansion, in section 2, grave S-3, facing the city he planned.
The estate was originally meant to display memorabilia of George Washington that Custis had inherited. After the Civil War, the government used the land for a cemetery, which today is known as Arlington National Cemetery and sits right next to the house.
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