Editing Mount Vernon (section)

===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=}}