Arlington House at Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial

Arlington House’s south wing and lower floor of the main house are open for self-guided tours. A Ranger is on duty inside to answer any questions. The house is open daily. From June through August, the first entry is at 9 AM and the last at 4 PM. From September through May, the first entry is at 9:30 AM and the last at 4 PM. No tickets are required. Times can always change, so be sure to get the latest schedule on the National Park Service’s Things to Do web page for Arlington House, the  Robert E. Lee Memorial. Keep in mind that it takes 15-20 minutes to walk to the house from the entrance of Arlington Cemetery.

Arlington House is the most visited historical home in the entire National Park system and one of the top five most visited historical homes of any sort in the United States. To ensure you get into the house as quickly as possible, arrive as early as possible. On busy days you may have to wait in line for an hour or more due to limits put on the number of people allowed inside the house at one time. Per a park Ranger, the busiest times are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 AM to 3 PM.

I visited on the Thursday before Labor Day at 9 AM, and I was the only one there. I thoroughly photographed the house and read all of the information and was still done in 20 minutes, so short of taking a nap somewhere inside, 20 minutes all you’ll need for a tour of Arlington House.

While visitors are only allowed to see part of Arlington House on a self-guided tour, the entire house is furnished. In the past, guided tours were available that took guests through nearly the entire house, both up- and downstairs, but due to a staffing shortage / budget constraints, guided tours are not being held at this time. The National Park Service hopes to one day reinstate these tours.

THE INTERIOR

The first restoration of Arlington House began in 1929 and was finished for the opening of the park in 1933. The house was in good condition, having been used all along as the residence of the superintendent of Arlington Cemetery, but there were no original furnishings, or any furnishings from the pre-Civil War era. After much effort, a collection was assembled that consisted of authentic antiques from the early to mid-1800s, reproductions of actual furniture and decorative items that were once at Arlington but were now back at Mount Vernon, and some original pieces of George Washington Parke Custis and Robert and Mary Lee.

The antiques were donated by wealthy patrons and make up the majority of the larger furniture items now on display. However, the Mount Vernon reproductions and the original pieces have a much more interesting story. The Union army occupied Arlington in May 1861 because of its strategic view of Washington, D. C. The Lees were aware of what was going to happen, so they moved the more valuable furnishings to the homes of relatives before they left for good. Most of these items were later donated to Mount Vernon, Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) where Robert E. Lee was president, and the Smithsonian, and for the most part, these institutions were not willing to give up the items for the new Arlington House renovation.

However, there were still plenty of furnishings left in the house when the Lees evacuated, including some of the George Washington memorabilia that Custis had collected. Upon leaving, Mary Lee gave the keys to the house to Selina Gray, her slave and head housekeeper, and left her and her family in charge. The house was initially protected by the Union officers who had moved in, but after the loss at the First Battle of Manassas (aka First Battle of Bull Run) security got a little lax. When Union soldiers stole some of the Washington memorabilia, Gray went to General Irvin McDowell, who was using the house as his headquarters, and convinced him that the items needed to be saved. McDowell had the Lees’ personal possessions secured in the attic and basement and shipped the Washington memorabilia to the patent office in Washington, D. C. After the war the memorabilia was returned to Mount Vernon. When attempting to furnish the restored Arlington House, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association was approached about allowing the Custis-owned items to be reproduced, to which they agreed.

The Lee items that had been stored in the attic and basement were retained by the U. S. government. Mary attempted to get them back, and while President Andrew Johnson agreed, Congress held things up. It wasn’t until 1901, long after Mary’s death, that President William McKinley had the items returned to the Lee family, which later donated many of the pieces back to Arlington House. All told, about a third of the furnishings now in the house are original Lee and Custis pieces, including the Lees’ bed on display in their second floor bedroom. There have also been a few items returned by the men who stole them during the occupation, and some of the former slaves donated items that were once gifted to them.

Nearly all of the original paintings that hung in the house have been located, but many are now privately owned or are in museums. Most, but not all, of what you see today are reproductions.

While not everything in the house is original, the rooms have been furnished much as they were in 1861. But how would anyone know what the place looked like? Four of Selina Gray’s children were still alive in the late 1920s when the restoration was started, and they were consulted about the home’s appearance. Help also came from another former slave, Jim Parks, or Uncle Jim as he was better known. Parks was 85 years old at the time, but he still had a great memory. It was he who remembered the interior layouts of the slave quarters. When he died in 1929, he was buried at Arlington Cemetery despite never having served in the military. He is the only person buried at Arlington who was born at Arlington.

The National Park Service brought Arlington House up to present day museum standards during a 2017-2021 renovation. Some of the money donated for the renovation may be used to purchase more original furnishings and artwork, and since the house now has a new security and climate control system, hopefully other museums will be willing to lend original pieces for display at the house.

The following photos are from the first floor of the main house and south wing:

WHITE PARLOR

This room was used as a storage room, painting studio, and playroom for the Lee children up until 1855, when Robert E. Lee had it redecorated for use as the main parlor for entertaining.