Editing Mount Vernon (section)

=== 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" />