Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial, National Park Service

Moss, Saylor

Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial is a 16 acre site managed by the National Park Service that is located within Arlington National Cemetery, a 600-plus acre cemetery managed by the US Army and located in Arlington County Virginia directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The site is a memorial to Robert E. Lee, and serves as a museum exhibiting decorative arts; archives; music; gardens; manuscript collections; Civil War memorabilia; 18th and 19th century furnishings and relics of the Robert E. Lee and Custis families and the slaves who also lived on the property. These objects can be found throughout the site: on the grounds, in the house, in the potting shed/museum building and in the slave quarters. The period of significance for Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial is 1802-1880. Three periods associated with a sequence of historical development can be found within this time frame. One, 1802-1861 relates to the time that the Custis and Lee families used the estate as a residence. The 16 acre property is what remains of an 1,100 acre estate on the banks of the Potomac River that was inherited by George Washington Parke Custis (G.W.P. Custis), step-grandson of George Washington. Custis was the grandson of Martha Washington through her first marriage. Two, 1861-1865 is when Arlington was used as the headquarters for the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, and finally, 1865-1880 relates to the time when the site was transformed into a national cemetery. The spatial organization of the historic core that contributes to the historic integrity of the site consists of buildings, yard, garden terraces and woods. The use of the flower and kitchen gardens as gardens and the fact that Arlington Woods retain integrity as a wooded area lend integrity to land use. The existence of the house, slave quarters, well and potting shed lend integrity to buildings and structures on site. Paths, roads and road traces found on site today lend integrity to circulation. The existence of “witness trees” in Arlington Woods, and the use of compatible plantings in the kitchen and flower gardens lend some integrity to vegetation. Views between the flower and kitchen gardens, views from the east side of the house towards Washington and views along Lee Avenue north to the house and the broader southern view lend integrity to views and vistas. Finally, the cluster of buildings comprising the house, garden and yard area and the cluster of buildings on the other side of the ravine west of the house where the stables once stood contribute to the integrity of cluster arrangement on site. The landscape at Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial is in good condition. It retains integrity for the period of significance (1802-1880). The most pressing issue on-site may have to do with loss of acreage to Arlington National Cemetery.

Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial, National Park Service

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