George Washington's Aggressive Real Estate Investment

Next to his wife, his family, and his nation, there was almost nothing George Washington loved more than real estate. The Mount Vernon he inherited in his twenties included just 2,000 over acres, and in bits and pieces, over a period of more than 25 years, he expanded his plantation to almost 8,000 acres.

Washington's vision of America was so grand and so optimistic, that he was convinced that land of almost any kind was a great investment. His holdings were quite diverse. He owned a lot in Winchester, two in Warm Springs, six in the Richmond area, one near Williamsburg, and three near Fredericksburg. He owned two townhouses on Capitol Hill and four other lots in the federal city, as well as a half-acre lot and a townhouse in Alexandria. He also owned thousands of acres of undeveloped land in the Ohio Valley, and 4,000 acres of the Dismal Swamp.