The Washington Monument is not the national capital's only iconic structure closed because of earthquake damage. Arlington House, also known as the Custis-Lee Mansion in Arlington National Cemetery, was structurally damaged during August’s 5.8 earthquake. Examination revealed numerous ceiling and wall cracks plus a partial wall separation with a split down one corner in the rear of the house.
As a result, the National Park Service has closed the second floor and basement of the mansion to all visitors.
Built by George Washington Parke Custis between 1802 and 1817, Custis hired George Hadfield, a young English architect, to design the residence on the more than 1,100 acres he had inherited from his father, John Parke Custis. Raised by his grandmother and her second husband, George Washington, after his father’s death, young George Custis wanted the house to also become a “treasury” of Washington heirlooms, open to visitation by the public. Only one child of his marriage to Mary Lee Fitzhugh--Mary Anna Randolph Custis, born in 1808--survived to adulthood … and she would marry Lieutenant Robert E. Lee in the parlor of Arlington House on June 30, 1831.
The house became the Lee family home for the next three decades, despite Lee’s long absences on active military duty. When his home state of Virginia voted for secession in April of 1861 in the aftermath of the firing on Ft. Sumter after having initially voted it down, Lee agonized in his upstairs bedroom over whether to accept Lincoln’s offer of promotion to general, finally deciding to resign his commission and offer his services to Virginia. The Lee bedroom is currently closed to visitation.
A spokesman on site stated that any plans to reopen the upper floor and basement remain undetermined, and are dependent upon NPS funding, most of which is currently focused on restoring the Washington Monument.
Gregg welcomes your comments and suggestions and hopes you’ll become a regular subscriber. Just click on the subscribe link at top to receive Gregg’s latest article online when he publishes.
Comments