Editing Mount Vernon (section)

==Buildings and grounds==
[[File:Mount Vernon, Virginia crop 2.jpg|thumb|Built in classic [[Palladian architecture]] style, the home's west side is flanked by advancing single-story secondary wings creating a [[cour d'honneur]].]]
The estate contained {{convert|8000|acre}} when George Washington lived there.<ref name=aboutMV>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/about/|title=About Mount Vernon|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon|language=en|access-date=5 Feb 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015225/https://www.mountvernon.org/about/|archive-date=7 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2011, the property consists of {{convert|500|acre}},<ref name="Fact">{{cite web|title=Mount Vernon Fact Sheet |url=http://www.mountvernon.org/pressroom/index.cfm/fuseaction/view/pid/803 |publisher=mountvernon.com |year=2011 |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818145948/http://www.mountvernon.org/pressroom/index.cfm/fuseaction/view/pid/803 |archive-date=18 August 2010 }}</ref> including the mansion and over 30 other buildings near the riverfront.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/architecture/historic-structures/|title=Historic Structures|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon|language=en|access-date=2018-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108025757/https://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/architecture/historic-structures/|archive-date=8 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Architecture===
Construction on the present mansion at Mount Vernon began in approximately 1734 and was built in incremental stages by an unknown architect under the supervision of Augustine Washington.<ref name="auto"/> This staggered and unplanned evolution is indicated by the off-center main door. As completed and seen today, the house is in a loose Palladian style. The principal block, dating from about 1734, was a one-story house with a [[garret]].<ref name="auto"/> In the 1750s, the roof was raised to a full second story and a third floor garret. There were also one-story extensions added to the north and south ends of the house; these were torn down during the next building phase.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/expansion-of-mount-vernons-mansion/|title=Expansion of Mount Vernon's Mansion|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon|language=en|access-date=2018-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106004817/https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/expansion-of-mount-vernons-mansion/|archive-date=6 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The present day mansion is {{convert|11,028|sqft|abbr=on|0}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/|title=The Mansion|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon|language=en|access-date=2019-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910135143/https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/|archive-date=10 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1774, the second expansion began. A two-story wing was added to the south side. Two years later a large two-story room was added to the north side.<ref name="auto1"/> Two single-story secondary wings were built in 1775. These secondary wings, which house the servants hall on the northern side and the kitchen on the southern side, are connected to the ''[[corps de logis]]'' by symmetrical, quadrant [[colonnade]]s, built in 1778. The completion of the colonnades cemented the classical Palladian arrangement of the complex and formed a distinct ''[[cour d'honneur]]'', known at Mount Vernon as Mansion Circle, giving the house its imposing perspective.

The ''corps de logis'' has a [[Hip roof|hipped roof]] with dormers and the secondary wings have [[gable roof]]s with dormers. In addition to its second story, the importance of the ''corps de logis'' is further emphasized by two large chimneys piercing the roof and by a [[cupola]] surmounting the center of the house; this octagonal focal point has a short [[spire]] topped by a gilded [[Doves as symbols|dove of peace]].<ref name="History">{{cite web|title=History of Mount Vernon |url=http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/ss/27/ |publisher=Mountvernon.com |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811165542/http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/ss/27 |archive-date=11 August 2011 }}</ref> This placement of the cupola is more in the earlier [[Restoration style|Carolean]] style than Palladian and was probably incorporated to improve ventilation of the enlarged attic and enhance the overall symmetry of the structure and the two wings; a similar cupola crowns the [[Governor's Palace (Williamsburg, Virginia)|Governor's House at Williamsburg]], of which Washington would have been aware.

Though no architect is known to have designed Mount Vernon, some attribute the design to [[John Ariss]], a prominent Virginia architect who designed Paynes Church in [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] (now destroyed) and likely [[Mount Airy Plantation|Mount Airy]] in [[Richmond County, Virginia|Richmond County]].<ref name="Kornwolf2002">{{Cite book|title=James D. Kornwolf, Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf, ''Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America,'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2002|isbn = 978-0-8018-5986-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bHwImC-UOUC&q=%22mount+vernon%22+ariss&pg=PA1557|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617143904/https://books.google.com/books?id=4bHwImC-UOUC&pg=PA1557&lpg=PA1557&dq=%22mount+vernon%22+ariss&source=web&ots=Ynhut-rs9_&sig=8px5Pb0QIW2VuT2hqs2mdCfUh0c&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA1557,M1|archive-date=17 June 2016|access-date=31 October 2015|last1 = Kornwolf|first1 = James D.|last2 = Kornwolf|first2 = Professor James D.|last3 = Kornwolf|first3 = Georgiana Wallis|year = 2002| publisher=JHU Press }}</ref> Other sources credit Colonel Richard Blackburn, who also designed [[Rippon Lodge]] in [[Prince William County, Virginia|Prince William County]] and the first Falls Church.<ref name="Price">{{cite book|author=Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Virginia|url=https://archive.org/details/virginiaguidetoo00writ|title=VIRGINIA A Guide To The Old Dominion|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor1-last=Price|editor1-first=Jamese|series=American Guide Series|access-date=9 November 2019|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810025507/https://archive.org/details/virginiaguidetoo00writ|archive-date=10 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hayden">{{cite book|last=Hayden|first=H.E.|url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-1922556|title=Virginia Genealogies|date=April 1910 |publisher=The William and Mary Quarterly }}</ref> Blackburn's granddaughter Anne married [[Bushrod Washington]], George's nephew, and is interred at the Washingtons' tomb on the grounds. Most architectural historians believe that the design of Mount Vernon is solely attributable to Washington alone and that the involvement of any other architects is based on conjecture.{{sfnp|Manca|2012|p=250|ps=}}

=== Interior ===
[[File:Washington’s Study at Mount Vernon.jpg|thumb|George Washington's study at Mount Vernon in July 2023]]
[[File:Study at Mount Vernon mansion under renovation.jpg|thumb|The same study during renovations in February 2025. The 18th century wooden structure of the mansion, with Roman numeral markings from the period, is exposed.]]
[[File:Washington's Dining Room at Mt. Vernon.jpg|thumb|George Washington's Mount Vernon dining room, noted for its unique color, a result of copper paint, and its ornate ceiling work]]
The rooms at Mount Vernon have mostly been restored to their appearance at the time of George and [[Martha Washington]]'s occupancy. Rooms include Washington's study, two dining rooms, the larger of which is known as the New Room, the West Parlour, the Front Parlour, the kitchen and some bedrooms.<ref name="Mount Vernon">{{cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/interior-architectural-details/|title=Interior Architectural Details|work=George Washington's Mount Vernon|year=2020|location=Mount Vernon, Virginia|publisher=[[Mount Vernon Ladies' Association]]|access-date=February 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215131014/https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/interior-architectural-details/|archive-date=December 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

The interior design follows the classical concept of the exterior, but owing to the mansion's piecemeal evolution, the internal architectural features{{snds}}the [[chambranle|doorcases]], mouldings and plasterwork{{snds}}are not consistently faithful to one specific period of the 18th-century revival of classical architecture. Instead they range from Palladianism to a finer and later neoclassicism in the style of [[Robert Adam]].<ref name="Mount Vernon" /> This varying of the classical style is best exemplified in the doorcases and surrounds of the principal rooms. In the West Parlour and Small Dining rooms there are doorcases complete with ionic columns and full pediments, whereas in the hall and passageways the doors are given broken pediments supported by an [[architrave]].<ref name="Mount Vernon"/> Many of the rooms are lined with painted [[panelling]] and have ceilings ornamented by plasterwork in a [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical style]]; much of this plasterwork can be attributed to an English craftsman, John Rawlins, who arrived from London in 1771 bringing with him the interior design motifs then fashionable in the British capital.<ref name="Mount Vernon"/>

Visitors to Mount Vernon now see Washington's study, a room to which in the 18th century only a privileged few were granted entry. This simply furnished room has a combined bathroom, dressing room and office; the room was so private that few contemporary descriptions exist. Its walls are lined with naturally grained paneling and matching bookcases.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/george-washingtons-study/|title=George Washington's Study|work=George Washington's Mount Vernon|year=2020|location=Mount Vernon, Virginia|publisher=[[Mount Vernon Ladies' Association]]|access-date=February 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530085403/http://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/george-washingtons-study|archive-date=May 30, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast to the privacy of the study, since Washington's time, the grandest, most public and principal reception room has been the so-called New Room or Large Dining Room{{snds}}a two-storied salon notable for its large Palladian window, occupying the whole of the mansion's northern elevation, and its fine Neoclassical marble [[Fireplace mantel|chimneypiece]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/the-new-room/|title=New Room|work=George Washington's Mount Vernon|year=2020|location=Mount Vernon, Virginia|publisher=[[Mount Vernon Ladies' Association]]|access-date=February 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021085846/https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/the-new-room/|archive-date=October 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The history of this chimneypiece to some degree explains the overall restrained style of the house. When it was donated to Washington by English merchant [[Samuel Vaughan]], Washington was initially reluctant to accept the gift, stating that it was "too elegant & costly I fear for my own room, & republican stile of living."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/collections-holdings/browse-the-museum-collections/object/w-940/|title=Chimney Piece|work=George Washington's Mount Vernon|year=2020|location=Mount Vernon, Virginia|publisher=[[Mount Vernon Ladies' Association]]|access-date=February 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010075223/http://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/collections-holdings/browse-the-museum-collections/object/w-940/|archive-date=October 10, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Efforts have been made to restore the rooms and maintain the atmosphere of the 18th century; this has been achieved by using original color schemes and by displaying furniture, carpets and decorative objects which are contemporary to the house. The rooms contain portraits and former possessions of George Washington and his family.<ref name="Mount Vernon" />

=== Grounds ===
[[File:Mount Vernon Mansion East Front.jpg|alt=East Front of George Washington's Mansion|thumb|The eastern façade facing the [[Potomac River]]]]
[[File:GW_Gardens.jpg|thumb|The geometric garden at Mount Vernon]]
The gardens and grounds contain English [[Buxus|boxwoods]], taken from cuttings sent by Major General [[Henry Lee III]] a [[Governor of Virginia]] and the father of [[Robert E. Lee]], which were planted in 1786 by George Washington and now crowd the entry path. A carriage road skirts a grassy [[bowling green]] to approach the mansion entrance. To each side of the green is a garden contained by red brick walls. These [[Colonial Revival garden]]s{{sfnp|Griswold|Foley|1999|p=124|ps=}} grew the household's vegetables, fruit and other perishable items for consumption. The upper garden, located to the north, is bordered by the greenhouse.<ref name="gardens">{{cite web|title=Gardens |url=http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/ss/30/ |publisher=Mountvernon.org |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729025900/http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/ss/30 |archive-date=29 July 2011 }}</ref> [[Ha-ha]] walls are used to separate the working farm from the pleasure grounds that Washington created for his family and guests.<ref name="10 facts" /> The overseer's quarter, spinning room, salt house, and gardener's house are between the upper garden and the mansion.

The lower garden, or southern garden, is bordered on the east by the storehouse and clerk's quarters, smokehouse, wash house, laundry yard, and coach house. A paddock and stable are on the southern border of the garden; east of them, a little down the hillside, is the icehouse. The original tomb is located along the river. The newer tomb in which the bodies of George and Martha Washington have rested since 1831 is south of the fruit garden; the slave burial ground is nearby, a little farther down the hillside. A "Forest Trail" runs through woods down to a recreated pioneer farm site on low ground near the river; the {{convert|4|acre|m2|adj=on}} working farm includes a re-creation of Washington's 16-sided treading barn.<ref name="barn">{{cite web|title=Sixteen-Sided Barn |url=http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/sss/76/ |publisher=Mountvernon.org |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828225531/http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/sss/76/ |archive-date=28 August 2011 }}</ref>

A museum and education center are on the grounds and exhibit examples of Washington's survey equipment, weapons, and clothing, and the  dentures worn by Washington as the first [[President of the United States|U.S. president]]. In 2013, the [[Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington]] opened on Mount Vernon;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mountvernon.org/library/about-the-library/|title=About the Library|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon|access-date=15 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315234903/http://www.mountvernon.org/library/about-the-library/|archive-date=15 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> the library, which is open for scholarship by appointment only, fosters new scholarship about George Washington and safeguards original Washington books and manuscripts.