Open 365 days a year, Mount Vernon is located just 15 miles south of Washington DC.
From the mansion to lush gardens and grounds, intriguing museum galleries, immersive programs, and the distillery and gristmill. Spend the day with us!
Discover what made Washington "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858.
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The Washington Library is open to all researchers and scholars, by appointment only.
“From the clangor of arms & the bustle of a camp—freed from the cares of public employment, & the responsibility of Office—I am now enjoying domestic ease under the shadow of my own Vine, & my own Fig tree; & in a small Villa, with the implements of Husbandry & Lambkins around me…”
– George Washington to Adrienne,
Marquise de Lafayette, April 4, 1784
Painted by Rembrandt Peale, 1830; Oil on canvas
George Washington’s friend, Samuel Vaughan, recorded the Mount Vernon landscape in this travel notebook when he visited in 1787. The drawing delineates the major elements of George Washington’s pleasure grounds, with a numbered key along the bottom that identifies specific landscape features.
By Samuel Vaughan, June-September 1787
Attributed to Edward Savage, ca. 1787?1792, Oil on canvas
In the earliest known view of Mount Vernon from the east, the artist captured the short-lived “paddock of deer,” inside the picketed fence in the left foreground. The fence was not visible from the yard, creating the intended illusion that the deer roamed wild.
Bequest of Helen W. Thompson, 1964
Attributed to Edward Savage, ca. 1787?1792, Oil on canvas
To modern eyes, this painting simply captures the Washington family enjoying the bowling green in front of their home. To 18th-century viewers, the broad and even swath of green grass would have vividly conveyed a sense of the Washingtons’ wealth, enabling them to afford the upkeep of such a lawn.
Bequest of Helen W. Thompson, 1964 [H-2445/B]
Drawn by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 1796, Ink and watercolor on paper
This unique scene captures the Washington family taking tea on the piazza, enjoying the respite provided by George Washington’s carefully staged, picturesque river view. No other image conveys so vividly the importance of the Mount Vernon landscape to George Washington—offering quiet repose and the grandeur of nature to invigorate the father of his country.
Purchased with funds provided in part by an anonymous donor, 2013 [W-5307]
Made in France or England, 18th century, Copper, iron
Before hoses and sprinklers, George Washington’s gardeners watered his gardens by hand with watering pots like this one, which they filled nearby. Likely one of the several watering pots that Washington ordered from London in 1760, this original example has weathered from its bright copper color through many years of use.
![Gift of Thomas Blagden, 1916 [W-1052/B]](http://mtv-main-assets.mountvernon.org/files/exhibits/32_di-0324-2-w-1052-b.jpg)
Gift of Thomas Blagden, 1916 [W-1052/B]
