George Washington Slept Here – for 45 Years
By Laurie Williams Sowby

MOUNT VERNON, VA. – Mount Vernon: The name sparks images of the red-roofed, white mansion on a hill overlooking the Potomac River. This was George Washington's home for 45 years, from the time he was 22 through the Revolutionary War and two terms as our first U.S. president.

But the place is much more than the mansion, and it's about far more than George and Martha.

Mount Vernon began as a land grant to George's grandfather in 1674. George was in the middle of seven generations who lived here. He moved in at age 3, into a modest home where the mansion house now sits. He died here in 1799, at age 67.

The Virginia plantation 10 miles south of Washington, D.C., was originally five farms of mostly corn and grain. Its 8,000 acres were farmed with the help of black slaves.

Today, Mount Vernon consists of 500 acres that are maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which purchased it from the Washington family in 1858. The association's purpose was to preserve the house, slave quarters, outbuildings, grounds and wharf, along with the tomb where the Washingtons are buried, down the hill from the mansion.

Visitors numbering nearly 8 million now have flocked to Mount Vernon, where, in warmer months, they can not only get a tour of the house's interior, but catch a glimpse of slave life and the agrarian culture of 200 years ago.

Though in summertime the wait is long for the mansion tour, it's well worth it. Winter lines are blessedly short, and fall and springtime are also good times to visit.

If you've been before in the warm seasons, skip the mansion and opt instead to spend some time in the new living history museum near the river, where costumed docents show and tell about life in colonial times.

The mansion house, with its dark green shutters, red roof and long veranda on the river side, or "East Front," was renovated and restored to its original wall coverings and paint colors in the 1980s; further restoration is ongoing. The mansion features authentic period furnishings, one-fourth of them original and some owned by Washington himself, including the bed he died in. The mansion's wood exterior was finished to look like stone.

The room people first enter was the last addition to the house, and one of the most significant. In this two-story room with the Italian marble fireplace mantel, Gen. Washington and his officers planned the Battle of Yorktown, the new president gave his acceptance speech, and the former president lay in state. Washington himself chose the color of the deep green walls and selected the art – scenes of the Hudson and Potomac rivers.

The Father of Our Country raised a family at Mount Vernon. Martha Custis already had two children when she became Washington's wife. In addition, they raised two grandchildren in this house.  The home’s 10 bedrooms, most of the rooms upstairs, were usually occupied by family members or guests. (One year, 400 stayed over!) Canopied beds, chamber pots and fireplaces are a feature of each bedroom.

Below Washington's bedroom is the study, displaying walls of books, a globe and his chair. He started each day here at 4:30 a.m.

Out the study's door is the kitchen, one of several outbuildings that supported the plantation. Visitors pass a wash house, smokehouse, slaves' quarters, coach house, stables, and donkeys and horses behind a white rail fence on their way to the wharf and tomb. A brick path cut in the lush vegetation leads between the tomb and wharf.

Beyond the tomb a little way lies a burial ground for slaves. Washington decreed in his will that all his slaves would receive their freedom upon his death. Some 316 of them were employed at Mount Vernon. Tours outlining their life are given on the hour.

Cross a wooden bridge over a steep ravine and you’re on the quarter-mile Forest Trail. The 10-minute walk leads past signs describing animals that once inhabited the Mount Vernon estate, and ends near a 16-sided barn. Complete with live animals, the barn resembles the one Washington had here in the 1770s.

The barn is part of the exhibit "George Washington, Pioneer Farmer," presented Memorial Day through Labor Day The four-acre exhibition area features costumed hosts portraying 18th-century craftsmen and laborers. Small fields and gardens are under cultivation, staffed by interns from Future Farmers of America.

Back near the mansion, on the other side of it, take some time to point out to the kids the "Necessary," and enjoy the manicured gardens and greenhouse where all kinds of fruits and vegetables were raised. Outside, Washington had a small botanical garden where he experimented with various seeds before planting them elsewhere.

The small museum with its family portraits and memorabilia such as the Washington silver and china is also a must-see. And the docent can authoritatively answer all kinds of questions. She'll tell you Washington stood 6 feet, 2 inches, he never wore a wig or chopped down a cherry tree, but he did have wooden teeth.

The display contains a number of Washington's personal possessions, including a silver-handled toothbrush and porcelain and silver used at Mount Vernon. Also on exhibit is a terra cotta bust of Washington, modeled at Mount Vernon by sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon and considered the most accurate likeness of our first president.

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IF YOU GO: Mount Vernon, located on the George Washington Parkway 10 miles south of Washington, D.C., is open every day of the year: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. April-August; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. March, September and October; and 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. November-February. Admission is $11 for adults, $10.50 for senior citizens, and $5 for children ages 6-11. Free parking. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Restaurants, snack shop, food court and gift shops on site. Phone (703) 780-2000 for more information on Mount Vernon, or log onto www.mountvernon.org for info on our first president and the place he called home.