Mount Vernon

On Easter, we visited George Washington’s famous estate, Mount Vernon, including the Mansion,
the gardens, the out buildings, and a large museum. In this post I’ll concentrate on the Mansion.
Washington was a very wealthy landowner and farmer, and only a small part of his land is included in the monument here.

The Mansion, as it’s called on all the guideposts, is a lovely 18th century house.
Many of today’s McMansions are larger than it is, and have fancier bathrooms.
In fact, we didn’t see any bathrooms at all. They did things differently back then.

In the visitor center, I was delighted to see a miniature version of the mansion.

I enjoyed getting a sense of Washington’s life, such as this desk that he used (maybe).
The house belonged to the family for at least 50 years after his and Martha’s death before becoming a monument.

In addition to visiting the Mansion, we walked around the grounds where there are many buildings showing the 18th century farming practices, particularly Washington’s innovations in farming. The tomb of George and Martha Washington and some of their relatives is also on the grounds, along with a memorial to the enslaved people who worked there and were buried there in now-unmarked graves. Finally, we toured the museum, which documents the life of Washington and his remarkable accomplishments, as well as the history of the wars and political events of his lifetime.

The Dining Room

Washington, the docents told us, loved this verdigris-green color.
It was very popular at the time.

Here’s the open-sided model of the dining room in the miniature version.

Food is included. but the crowds of people had to file quickly past everything so we didn’t learn about it.

I think these were jugs that held wine. Also visible in the mini dining room.

Other Rooms at Mount Vernon

The Master Bedroom: the room in which George Washington died.

In the mansion, one of the many other bedrooms, mainly for guests.

A miniature room.

The hearth in the kitchen, which is outside the main house.

The work table in the kitchen. The documentation acknowledges that most of the labor was 
performed by the more than 300 enslaved people at Mount Vernon.

And there’s so much more…

In the museum are many re-creations.
This full-sized model shows Washington on one of his favorite horses.

Blog post © 2023 mae sander