Arlington House. This was home to Robert E. Lee until the secession of Virginia on April 17, 1861. Robert E. Lee would never return to this home again. This house is located on the top of the main hill at Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery was started as an insult to General Lee. The Union soldiers that were in charge of Alexandria, and here at Arlington throughout the war started burying Union dead on Lee's front lawn as an insult to the General whom led the fight against the United States.