Dining Room

 
Dining Room
The Dining Room

NPS

A Host of Distinguished Guests
With the ringing of a bell, enslaved servants led by Charles Syphax summoned the family and their guests to eat. Many famous visitors dined at the Custis-Lee dining table, including Washington Irving, Andrew Jackson, and Franklin Pierce. George Washington Parke Custis entertained company with stories about George and Martha Washington. The elegant table was set with china and silverware from Mount Vernon.

The Marquis de Lafayette visited Arlington in the 1820s. He tried to convince George Washington Parke Custis to stop relying on enslaved labor at Arlington.

“If Mr. Custis, instead of…slaves…would employ a dozen free labourers...he would soon have one of the most delightful properties, not only of the District of Columbia, but of all of Virginia.”–Lafayette’s secretary on the conversation between Lafayette and Mr. Custis.

Montgomery Meigs, a friend of Robert E. Lee from the US Army, dined at Arlington House in the 1850s. He later ordered the first graves dug here.

 
Arlington House First Floor Floorplan
First Floor
North Slave Quarters Museum Exhibit Miss Judy's Quarters Portico Bath and Water Closet Outer Hall Pantry Inner Hall Dining Room Store Room White Parlor Hunting Hall Conservatory School Room Morning Room Family Parlor Guest Chamber Custis Bedchamber Center Hall Office and Studio Selina Gray's Quarters Summer Kitchen / George Clark's Quarters South Slave Quarters museum exhibit Smokehouse
 

Last updated: July 19, 2021

Park footer

Contact Info

Mailing Address:

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
700 George Washington Memorial Parkway
c/o Turkey Run Park

McLean, VA 22101

Phone:

703 235-1530

Contact Us