Set on a hill overlooking the cemetery, this 1802 Greek Revival–style mansion is the former home of Confederate General Robert E Lee and his wife Mary Anna Custis Lee (aka Martha Washington's great-granddaughter). Union troops seized the property once Lee left to command Virginia's army in the Civil War, and used the grounds to bury Union war casualties. The house interior can be visited, but is unfurnished and in sore need of restoration. Arlington National Cemetery Tours buses stop outside.
After the war, the Lee family sued the federal government for reimbursement: the government paid them off, and Arlington Cemetery was born. Ranger-guided tours of the house are held on weekends on the hour from 10am to 3pm.