ARLINGTON HOUSE ..home of Robert E. Lee 

I have photos of my uncle, Colonel Dwight Eugene Howard, USMC, in 1973 on his caisson to his grave in front of the Custis Lee Mansion. He was a veteran of WW2, Korean War and two tours of duty in Vietnam. He died at 49 years old. My aunt said I waited for him all of those years and he just came home to die. She was a nurse during WW2. She is buried with him at Arlington.

General Robert E. Lee!

What a beautiful home. Such a great view of Washington.

Great Video. I remember back in the mid-80s, they did a restoration of the house, and the Lee Family was invited to come see it. I am a Lee, a descendent of Edmond Jennings Lee, Roberts's Uncle, and got to see it back then. I have seen the house five or six times in my life. It's really fantastic. I love it. I have also visited Stratford Hall in Virginia, the Lee Family's ancestral home. It's also restored and a good place to visit. Now if you really want to trace the Lee family back in England, you will need to go to Nordley Regis, Shropshire, England. That is where The Knight Sir Humphery Lee rests with his wife. I have the records of all the Lees going back to the first two men to have the Lee sir name.

Thanks for showing me the Robert E . Lee mansion always wanted to 👀 the inside. Very beautiful.

Just found your channel. A few years ago, I was on a church trip with some friends and we took a tour of Arlington Cemetery. The house was being renovated at the time. My great great-grandmother, Ann Lee, is a descendant of Robert E. Lee. This is a treat to see inside Arlington House. New viewer from Roanoke, VA.

The gardens are beautiful.

My wife had missed several videos so last night I went to bed and to my surprise my wife binged watched your videos till 3 am!

Perfect. I have to see this next time I'm in Virginia

You should have walked out from the back of the house about 100 yards to visit the graves of the original owners, George Washington Parke Custis and his wife. Also nearby are the infamous graves of Montgomery Meigs and his son. Meigs was responsible for burying the first graves around the flower garden, so the Lees could not move back there. The house was not Robert Lee's but his wife's. Meigs blamed his son's death on Lee, but his son did not die in any of Lee's battles. That house was so loved by his wife and her family.

Chris another great video

Spectacular

When I was there they were redoing it, but the man let us in to take a quick look around. It was stripped of everything. Thank you for taking me back to see it redone.

Thank you for the tour I enjoyed it.

Thanks! Have been past the house, never got a chance to see inside! Excellent job! Thanks for showing the gardens, as well- a lot of times things like that get overlooked….👍

So enjoyed this tour -beautiful view. Thank you!

What a wonderful video. I've never seen Lee's home. I sure appreciate the tour you gave. 👍

The property was made a memorial to Lee by the US government years later. It was never Lee’s house and he did not own any slaves. The Custis family built it, his wife inherited it and the Washington heirlooms.

This was an interesting video .I visited Arlington House un the late 1960s but there is now more to see like the slavery exhibit and the Robert E. Lee Museum. The Carter Family had two branches. One branch went to Massachusetts and married into the Adams Family,which my paternal great grandmother was a descendant. The other branch went to Virginia which Robert King Carter was a part of and married into the leading Virginian familys like the Lees. So I'm proud to be a part of this illustrious family and part of our American history.

Great video. When you spin around with the camera, pleas go more slowly. The quick motion may make some people queasy. .

I was stationed at Fort Myer which has the cemetery as a backyard. In the 70s the Lee Mansion was touted as the Custis house (Martha Washington's family) and was more or less wide open. A lot of landscaping has been done. In those days civilians simply walked up the hill from JFK'S grave; none of that pavement was there, it was grass. Similarly, Mt Vernon was wide open too. No fee or anything.

I'm glad the museum gives a respectful and balanced history for everyone involved.

Great video! Interesting info shown at a good walking pace. Relaxing to watch and I learned a lot. Thanks!

And in the distance is the patomic river that he forgot to mention and I took a history class about the president's and the plantation s and historic places in the south and also Washington it's very interesting and you should learn about historic places it's all apart of our lives,,thanks for the video tours so much enjoy them

Very cool, He was a cousin of mine or his wife lol , I am not good with genealogy. She was my cousin. I have not gotten to visit historical homes and ty for this vid.

Love this video. I was at Arlington Cemetery two summers ago and totally missed this. Thank you. Will have to go back.

THIS IS AMAZING, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Good tour, thank you. Very detailed.

Thanks for the tour

Very informative

Well done tour. Note the color Green on the sofa and chair. A natural green that is making a comeback now in 2 design styles.

Thank you.

I've toured that house before but it was on a school trip back in the '70s but we were allowed to go upstairs they must be closed it off now

I just ran across your channel…it’s great…Thanks for posting…

Thank you

Great Video Chris, Just one small correction The painting that you labeled Robert King Carter is actually Daniel Parke he is the Great Great Grandfather of George Parke Custis. I have the same Painting in my house being he is my ancestor also :)

I thank you for the tour as I will most likely never visit myself. I realize you said it was getting busier but perhaps you next visit just a little slower if you would 🙂Thank You 😊

Wow very informative - Thank you . I was there in 2016 and it was not open

That is such a long walk! I have seen the cemetery.

My family and l visited Arlington National Cemetery in 1964 to see John F. Kennedy's gravesite. We also toured Arlington House. I have a picture of me standing next to the portico at seven years old.

Reagan Airport is in Crystal City near Alexandria.

It was a nice tour of all the posters in the house.l would of liked to seen the inside of the house.

I am a Randolph, so kin to many of these familes,but not all. WOW, big pilasters on that home!

“Great spot for artillery” lol better not say that too loud

Tv show fun fact The car appears in every episode but one ("Mary Kaye's Baby"). The car's name is a reference to Robert E. Lee, general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It bears a Confederate battle flag on its roof, and also has a horn which plays the first 12 notes of the song "Dixie".

Great tour. My wife and I walked around the grounds, but tours weren't available at the time. Thanks. Robert E Lee was a brave, smart traitor.

Oh, I have a dear friend buried there. My military family opted for family burial sites,but this is a beautiful place. I did not realize Lee's home was there.

What you said about Robert E Lee and Gerald Ford was news to me. That's a very interesting story I'd like to know more about.

Thank you for the video. There is a lot of history on this house and why Arlington Cemetery is so close. The tomb of history about this house is so interesting especially the stories of the family and how they didn't want slaves but Mr Custis's will stipulated they had to keep them for 5 years. The slaves hid a lot of belongings from the Union for the family. Mary Custis became crippled early from they believe RA. Interesting information how Mary tried to pay the taxes due but the Union would not let her. It "Had to be Robert E Lee", as such the Lees lost the house. So so much more information about this house.

Another great video Chris. I love this stuff. I've been meaning to but have yet to get to Arlington since its recent renovation and restoration. From your video I can see a lot has changed as far as touring and exhibits. Do they not allow touring the second floor of the Big House like they used to? There is one correction I need to let you know of. When you were touring the building that housed Robert E. Lee's story and exhibits you misinterpreted the huge leather trunk in the glass case with the lock of Lee's hair and Traveler's mane in front of it. You had said it was a trunk belonging to Robert E. Lee's mother. It's actually the trunk of Mary Custis Lee (Showed her initials on the side of the trunk. That's how I spotted it. I had seen that trunk in more recent photos.), Robert E. Lee's oldest daughter. She never married, as none of the Lee daughters did, and spent many years traveling abroad. This was one of the trunks she used. She died in 1918 and is in the Lee family mausoleum at Washington and Lee University's Chapel along with the rest of the Lee family. This trunk was found in the basement of the Banking Institution Mary banked with in Alexandria not but just few years ago. Maybe a dozen years ago or so. I can't remember the name of the Bank but it has been in business since 1850. I do remember that. The Bank, I believe, turned the trunk over to the Park Service. It was full of her old dresses, letters, and many other personal artifacts. A fantastic discovery of recent years. From the article I had read about the discovery no one remembered who the trunk had belonged to and no one remembered how long it had been stored in the basement. Thanks again for another great video. Keep 'em comin'. Kim Morgan The Old Guy in Southern Maryland

I just found your channel today. Thanks for the tour. I take it you live in Virginia (?)….

Seeing is trulky believing. The wealth that some had before civil war is simply unimaginable. Robertt E Lee home and estate so impressive. You can have your house back but its has hundreds of soldiers buried there currently. Lee decided he didnt want it back. i always though it was granite or marble but lumber.....good maintenance down through the years. John Adams home also impressive then and now.

Legent.peaple.are.so.advance..N. Brilliant.thank.U.fr.vedeo👍👍💐

I am from Westmoreland Co, Va and where George was born.

The cream pitcher appears to be Wedgwood. Grey family lived all together. Lee’s slaves we well treated, for the time.

Being a combat veteran, I highly respect Arlington cemetery for what it is. But as a southerner, I despise that fact that the Union STOLE Robert E. Lee’s home & property. They stole it out of spite, way before they decided to make a cemetery out of it. Marse Robert was heartbroken the rest of his life over his house being stolen from him.

From 1790 to 1845, Arlington County was included in the District Of Columbia. In that time period, Arlington house was in Washington, D.C. The District Of Columbia made slavery illegal. How did that affect the servants at that time?

Very Good!... #205 ✝ {11-24-2023}

Always loved visiting history. But now I'm almost history. I can't make that walk because I must use a walker now. Is there a way for handicapped visitors to get to the Mansion?

I'm related to Robert E Lee through my Great Grandmother. One of the greatest Generals this country has ever had.

Yeah, I am in the Northern Neck, we hear that Carter name a lot.

Chris, I've been following your architectural vocabulary grow over the past two years since I've been following you. Pediment, portico and Greek revival just roll off your tongue now. I love it. Now you need to become familiar with the classical column styles. I'm looking forward to you throwing out entablature in the near future. As always, I enjoy your videos. Was there any reference to how and why the Federal Government illegally confiscated the property? Equally as important, was there any reference about Custis Lee sueing the government to get the property back. He won and sold the house back to the government for $150,000 in the late 1800s. Thanks for loving history and architecture!

Visited on trip Washington as boy

That building has very odd scale that makes it simultaneously interesting and strange to look at. The portico is much too large and the pillars are much too massive for proper scale with the rest of the structure. It's like they started to build a much larger building starting with the portico and then realized they didn't have the budget for the original plan so drastically scaled back the main building.

Where did he keep the Orange Dodge?

I liked the way the house was when we visited in 1992. The house was not restored until 2018. It had no carpets and very little furniture. The park service had kept it in the condition they found it in after the war. Robert E Lee never returned to the house. It was as the union soldiers left it.

Lots of changes since i visited.espiecally the slave cabin.☹️

Robert e lee cemetery!!

I haven’t ever seen this former home of Robert E. Lee

slow down a bit and focus on the signage so we can read. Thanks!! Good stuff

I am a direct relative of his wife, and kin to him, but his wife buried there is one reason why I am here,,,,,she, who is the first buried there,and that was her home!!!!!!!!!!

Have you ever read Jim Glanville’s writings on Saltville Virginia? It’s got mainstream historians in an uproar because they can’t disprove his findings.

This was actually his wife's families home, R.E. Lee did not own the Arlington mansion It was the Custis House built by Lee's Father in law (G.W.P. Custis, son of Martha Washington and her first husband)

Try to visit the Civil War battlefields of Saltville Virginia.

Wow! They didn’t add AC to the place.

Good tour but the "historical interpretation" seems rather slanted , almost insulting towards Lee and his family.

am related to robert e lee and i guess that makes me related to the first president

the greatest american to ever live

That's a Greek Temple ya'll

Bro how was that plane so close over White House. Like yea perspective of it may be skewed but that did not look right

GWPC's paintings are some of the weirdest paintings I've ever seen. All the American soldiers look like George Washington and the horses all have tiny heads.

Was the Lee family ever compensated for the U. S. Government stealing their property & land?

Refrigeration had been implemented in the norths railcars and the familys of the union dead could see the terrible violent deaths there boys were suffering So Lincoln stoped prisoner swaps Then telling his commanders to begin burying the northern dead in the front yard of General Robert E. Lee's ancestral home, where his mother was living becoming Arlington National Cemetery. Robert E.Lee was born north of the Mason Dixon line George Washington was born south of it.

Lee freed his slaves at the start of the Civil War

From everything I’ve ever read this was actually Mary custis house. Inherited from her father. She was the only legitimate daughter. He also has a daughter with one of his Slaves. I would love more information on the woman.

he was such a kind loving family man who never wanted to be part of the Civil War. Disgrace what they did to his front lawn & property.

JUST where would have the Africans been at today, IF the Americans had left the Africans as Property of the Shipping Companies and had NOT PAID for the Africans transportation charges?

I suppose you would want to keep it secret if you were going to free your slaves in your will... those slaves could cause you an accident...especially the ones preparing your food....lol Seriously, how bad could you treat a slave that prepares your food?

What if... Lee had stayed with the Union Army instead of joining the Confederacy?

The Sons of the Confederacy need to plant their flag on the Tomb of Confederate Soldiers where 2100 dead are buried there.

I like how the descendents of the slaves had their picture taken at the Lincoln Memorial.

Arlington Cemetery is not an attraction.

Visited in 2004 and was a joy. Now they have all this slavery woke crap

I am shocked the house still stands in our woke country. I suspect it will be torn down and turned into a George Floyd memorial soon enough.

Not for disabled people. 😢

The union troops should have burned it down IMO.

Thanks, but I'm tired of political correctness. It is wrong to judge people of a different era by today's standards. We can't know what their lives were like.

So glad to see it so I don't have to..such ugly portico..fake marble and pillars too fat..paintings hung at weird angles..some askew..overstuffed red sofas pushed close together..weird and tacky

Duality = hypocrisy :)