Storehouse
Even though Mount Vernon was largely self sufficient, not everything needed to run the plantation was made on site. Every year, George Washington ordered manufactured goods from cities in England and America. Many of these goods, including tools, beehives, gunpowder horns, candlemolds, nails, rum rations for the slaves and servants, and some of the slaves' clothing, were kept in this storeroom under lock and key.
Clerk's Quarters & Paint Cellar
General Washington employed secretaries and clerks to help with his plantation businesses. In 1799, Albin Rawlins, a clerk at the Mansion House Farm, lived in these quarters. Beneath the clerk quarters was located the paint cellar. Unlike today, paint was not purchased from a store 200 hundred years ago. Instead, dry pigments were ordered from as far away as London and mixed with ingredients such as linseed oils and water to create the colors you see on the estate. Paint pigments were very expensive and were stored under lock and key to prevent theft.
