George Washington really slept here

02-18-2007

 MOUNT VERNON, Va. -- Standing on the columned veranda of the two-story, 22-room neoclassical Georgian mansion overlooking the Potomac River hundreds of feet below, I was struck by just how much George Washington risked when he took up arms against Britain's King George, accepting a commission as commander in chief of the upstart American army in 1775.

	Mount Vernon Ladies' Association The east view of Mount Vernon from the Potomac River. Also see - Origions of Mount Vernon

Everyone he loved and everything he had created over the previous 20 years was wrapped up in Mount Vernon, the 5,000-acre plantation had already been in the Washington family for more than a century. When he went to war, he had a lot to lose.

Although his duties as a soldier, statesman and the country's first president took Washington far from Mount Vernon for years at a time, it was always at the center of his compass. It was here that he died in 1799, and here he and his wife, Martha, are buried.

Situated 16 miles south of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., at the southern end of the scenic George Washington Parkway (which is named Washington Street as it runs through Old Town Alexandria), Mount Vernon is a living tribute to the man most widely credited as the father of the country. Far more than all the other locations that bear Washington's name but with which he had nothing to do, Mount Vernon is an homage to the man himself.

For 40 years Washington worked diligently as a gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon, constantly refining and expanding the mansion house and its surrounding plantation.

Everything about the house was intended to reflect a sense of humanity and culture, but with practicality, stewardship and plain living. The mansion's features and furnishings are all fine, but not ostentatious. For example, rather than using expensive stone or brick to clad his mansion the last time he had it rebuilt, Washington had the structure covered with wooden planks that had been milled to resemble cut stone, with sand mixed into the paint to give it texture.

Washington also earned a reputation as an innovative farmer, who experimented with new plants, fertilizers, tools, crop rotation and livestock breeding. In addition to the distillery, he established flour milling and commercial fishing in a continual effort to expand Mount Vernon and make it more profitable. When he died, the plantation included nearly 8,000 acres.

In 1858, the plantation was acquired from Washington's grand-nephew by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association to preserve it as a national landmark. And this is what this nonprofit, nongovernmental organization has done for 150 years.

Mount Vernon has been a place of veneration ever since, even though it was designated as a National Historic Landmark only in 1960. Even during the Civil War, when fierce fighting raged all around it, both sides considered Mount Vernon as neutral ground.

Much of what Washington left has been lovingly maintained, virtually intact. The great mansion, the outlying buildings, work shops, barns and living quarters, the gardens and nurseries all have been restored and curated into a living museum of Colonial history and life, as well as a place that played a key role in America's history.

For decades, hundreds of thousands of visitors have come from around the world to Mount Vernon. They take tours through the mansion, where Washington oversaw every detail of design, construction and decoration. Its interior has been meticulously restored based on the inventory taken at the time of his death.

Costumed interpreters offer insights into the various exhibit areas around the grounds, with its formal gardens and organized farms. Washington's distillery and grist mill are located three miles away from the estate. Many visitors participate in special programs offered throughout the year. A wonderful guidebook and antenna-activated audio tours can also be purchased.

Last fall two facilities opened that greatly enhance the visitor experience.

The first is Ford Orientation Center, which greets visitors with a light-filled lobby and an authentic one-twelfth-scale exact replica of the mansion, complete with furnishings. The highlight of the orientation is an 18-minute movie, "We Fight to Be Free," produced by a Hollywood company. From his teen years, through the French and Indian War and his time at Mount Vernon, the Revolution, and as president, the stirring, large-format mini-epic dramatically recounts the events and people who defined Washington.

Also new is the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, with 23 galleries and theaters where visitors learn about Washington through a chronology of interactive displays. The six permanent galleries of the 6,000-square-foot museum feature hundreds of objects and artifacts closely associated with Washington, Mount Vernon, the Revolutionary War and the presidency.

The building also serves as Washington's presidential library, including his personal collection of books and more than 20,000 letters he wrote during his life.

These displays are augmented by a dozen short videos, produced and donated by the History Channel, that depict various less familiar aspects of Washington's life and times. One covers his innovative use of spies and espionage; another delves into the issue of his slave holdings; a third his farewell address.

Another reveals the process of forensic reconstruction, directed by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh, which led to the creation of the three life-size models of Washington at different times in his life. They are displayed in the education center.

A third complex of buildings house the gift shops, food court and the Mount Vernon Inn, which serves lunches daily and elegant candlelit dinners by reservation each evening Mondays through Saturdays.

Finally, all these low-rise modern additions to Mount Vernon are set into the topological profile of the property, so as not to disturb the pastoral views of and from the mansion. Sixty-five mature elm, maple, tulip poplar, oak, beech and American holly trees, some as high as 40 feet, were planted further to shield the past from the present.

Visitors walking the historic grounds see the plantation much as it would have looked to Washington -- except, of course, for all the people. I suspect this interest from the public would have given him deep satisfaction.

"I have no objection," Washington wrote to William Pierce in 1794, "to any sober or orderly person's gratifying their curiosity in viewing the building, Gardens, &ca about Mount Vernon."

So the father of our nation says, "Welcome to my home."

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