Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial overlooks Washington D.C. from the heights of Arlington National Cemetery. As the nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War – and after a six-year restoration effort – the house once again looks much like the home that  Lee knew. Built by George Washington Parke Custis, the step-grandson of George Washington, it was originally a memorial to the first president. Robert E. Lee married Custis’ daughter, Mary. It was at Arlington House that Lee resigned from the U.S. Army at the outset of the Civil War. Now it stands as the only national memorial to a Confederate leader, recognizing Lee’s post-war public efforts at reconciliation.