Mount Vernon: The Home of George Washington

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,’ we see how Mount Vernon’s relevance endures.

Because of additions to the structure, which took Mount Vernon from a modest home to a mansion, the architecture is not as precisely symmetrical and Palladian-adhering as George Washington desired. However, the mansion’s most prominent feature from almost any angle is its cupola. Washington commissioned a weather vane for it while presiding over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. He wrote to Philadelphia architect Joseph Rakestraw that the cupola’s weathervane should “have a bird … with an olive branch in its Mouth … that it will traverse with the wind and therefore may receive the real shape of a bird.” The weather vane is constructed of copper with an iron frame and lead head. Courtesy of Mount Vernon

Overlooking the Potomac River, Mount Vernon very early on was known as “the Hill” where America’s first statesmen met, as well as serving as the home of our nation’s first president.

Washington was skilled at drawing and scale drawing, primarily due to this pre-military career as a surveyor. Thus, his own drawings of British Palladian-style (characterized by classical forms, symmetry, and strict proportions) architecture were used to dictate additional construction projects on the property. South and north additions to the mansion were built up against the outside of the original 1758 house.

Ceiling heights vary from an average of almost 11 feet on the first floor down to a little over 7 feet on the third floor. The one exception is the ceiling height in what Washington referred to as the “New Room,” the mansion’s last addition which was used for socializing; its height is 16 feet.

Mount Vernon was named for the commanding officer of George Washington’s elder half-brother Lawrence—British Navy Adm. Edward Vernon. Washington’s father, Augustine, built it in 1734 as a modest one-and-a-half story, 3,500-square-foot dwelling. The house was enlarged to two-and-a-half stories in the late 1750s, and then the north and south wings and a cupola and piazza were added to elevate the structure’s status from home to an 11,000-square-foot mansion. The complex has over 30 buildings with gardens.

George Washington envisioned and drew up his idea for transforming the simple dwelling of his youth into a five-part Palladian-style mansion, consisting of the centerpiece structure connected to two pavilions that served as servants' hall and kitchen. Quadrant passageways in the design of colonnades partially enclose a forecourt. Washington’s plan was distinctive for the area, where most 18th-century citizens lived in simple to modest homes. The Palladian plan was first popularized by Andrea Palladio in the 16th century as a design for Italian villas and then used by British architects to design country estates. The mansion’s east-front pilaster-columned piazza affords an expansive view of the Potomac River. Courtesy of Deena Bouknight

The sweeping black walnut banister and baluster staircase begins and ends with a scroll design. A simple glass and iron candle lantern hangs in the stairwell. The stairwell boasts no additional noteworthy adornments; yet perhaps no other structural detail at Mount Vernon enlivens visitors’ imaginations as much as this staircase due to the number of historically famous people whose hands have grasped the polished wood, including the Marquis de Lafayette (for whom a bedroom is named), Washington’s family, and the second president John Adams. In fact, 588 individuals visited Mount Vernon between 1784 and 1789; on average, half stayed the night, which meant they ascended the staircase to reach the upper-floor guest rooms. Courtesy of Deena Bouknight

If Washington was not in his bedroom or out and about on the estate’s 8,000 acres, he was in his study, where more than 1,200 books are displayed, most of which he read during his lifetime. His desk, purchased in Philadelphia, Pa., provided him space to manage estate accounts, make daily diary entries, keep up with correspondence, and more. Its leaded glass-front, desk-topped bookcase enabled him to store important ledgers and books. The only main adornment in the room, other than a bust of Washington displayed on a corbel, is the near-ceiling dentil molding. Courtesy of Deena Bouknight

The plaster ceiling ornamentation in the small dining room is its pièce de résistance. Fine, delicate plasterwork presenting florals, leaves, and a central wagon-wheel design coordinate with the decorative crown moldings and the carved fireplace mantel accents. A bright verdigris paint, mixed with copper to give it a distinct patina, covers the walls. Courtesy of Deena Bouknight

George Washington called the last and grandest addition to the mansion his “New Room.” At 31 feet long, it served as a European-style salon for entertaining. Central in the high-ceiling room is a sienna marble fireplace featuring carvings of animals to denote farming and agriculture. Fluted circular Corinthian columns topped with the classic acanthus leaf design flank the cast iron fireplace insert. Courtesy of Deena Bouknight

Nine guest rooms are “above stairs” in the Mount Vernon mansion, including what is touted as the Blue Room. Blue textiles and wallpaper distinguish it. The 18th-century mahogany table, crafted by Williamsburg, Va., cabinetmaker Peter Scott, is one of the two that Martha Washington brought to Mount Vernon in 1759 as part of the Custis property from her first marriage. The multifunctional piece with tabletop mirror serves as both dressing and writing table, or storage piece, and has a kneehole compartment flanked by two banks of drawers. Courtesy of Deena Bouknight

George and Martha Washington enjoyed simple elegance in their bedchambers, and preferred white linens. Purchased in the early 1790s, the four-poster, canopy bed is just over six feet, six inches long to accommodate Washington’s more than six-foot height. It is the bed in which he died in 1799. Martha regularly used the French-style mahogany desk decked with a marble top and brass fittings.  Courtesy of Deena Bouknight

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