Family Dining Room

hen the central portion of the house was completed about 1818, this room was set aside and furnished as a dining room. Here, family members and guests regularly took their meals, which were prepared and served by the Arlington slaves. Arlington was noted for its hospitality, and seldom was there a meal at which some guests were not present. Charles Syphax, a Mount Vernon slave who came with Mr. Custis to Arlington in 1802, supervised meal service in the dining room.

View of Family Dining Room from Center Hall.

Meals began with a traditional family blessing. Children and young people apparently sat on one side of the table, "the children's side," opposite from their parents and adult guests. Place settings were often adorned with clippings from the Lees' flower garden. Former Arlington slaves recalled that it was Colonel Lee's custom to walk in the garden before breakfast and gather roses which he placed beside the plates of each of his daughters.

Today, the dining room has been restored to its historic appearance. Portraits of family members decorate the walls and the table is set with many original pieces of Lee and Washington family china. Most of the woodwork is original, as are the molding and plaster. The fan shaped window over the doorway on the west wall of the room is one of two windows with original glass which still remain in the mansion.

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