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.
Despite fastidiously brushing his teeth with tooth powder, scraping his tongue of bacteria, and using mouthwash, George Washington lost his first tooth at age 24 and was wearing a full set of dentures by age 57. His morning routine of dental hygiene did not end with the loss of his teeth, as his five…
Virginia's hot summers often resulted in drought, threatening George Washington's kitchen gardens and plantation fields alike. On the occasions "that your Earth grows dry," advised Batty Langley in Washington's 1728 copy of New Principles of Gardening, "'tis requisite to give it a moderate watering […]…
The elaborate carved ornament on this Chippendale chair resembles that of high-style British examples, but construction details reveal that it was made in Virginia by the Scottish immigrant cabinetmaker, Robert Walker. Walker produced furniture for some of the most influential families in the colony…
Following George Washington's election to the presidency in 1789, Congress moved quickly to procure and furnish a suitable dwelling for him in New York City, the nation's first capital. This stately side chair is one of sixty-eight supplied by Thomas Burling as part of a large quantity of "Mahogany Furniture"…
Virginia's hot summers often resulted in drought, threatening George Washington's kitchen gardens and plantation fields alike. On the occasions "that your Earth grows dry," advised Batty Langley in Washington's 1728 copy of New Principles of Gardening, "'tis requisite to give it a moderate watering […]…
In 1795, George Washington sat for the artist Charles Willson Peale at Philosophical Hall in Philadelphia. Peale had painted six earlier life portraits of Washington and this would be his last. Peale's likeness of the president presented a serious but tranquil statesman contemplating the nation's future…
Even as a bachelor, George Washington acquired choice furnishings which bespoke his gentility and position in Virginia society. He was at the height of elegance in serving Chinese Hyson tea, frequently listed in his orders to and invoices from London, in the "Compleat sett Fine Image China" he received…
As a man of the Enlightenment, George Washington possessed a great interest in the natural world. Washington collected this piece of coral on his 1751 trip to Barbados, his only trip outside of the United States. Prominently displayed amongst other natural specimens in his Study, the staghorn coral…
The large size of these silver and paste (cut and faceted glass) shoe buckles is typical of buckles worn by both men and women during the late eighteenth century. They are believed to have been worn to a ball celebrating George Washington's inauguration as the first president of the United States in…
Even as a bachelor, George Washington acquired choice furnishings which bespoke his gentility and position in Virginia society. In 1757, Washington received from London a "Compleat sett Fine Image China," which included this sugar bowl. Washington drew on credit earned from his tobacco shipments to England…
This Chinese export porcelain plate is part of an extensive dinner service which likely belonged to Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and wife of General Robert E. Lee. It features the “Canton” landscape, the most common pattern on blue-and-white porcelain shipped…
Even as a bachelor, George Washington acquired choice furnishings which bespoke his gentility and position in Virginia society. He was at the height of elegance in serving Chinese Hyson tea, frequently mentioned in his orders to and invoices from London, in the "Compleat sett Fine Image China" he received…
Don't let the bold façade of this leather-covered couch fool you. What appears to be a solid piece of furniture is in fact an eighteenth-century sofa bed. A bed frame pulls out from the interior of the lower case, and the seat back lifts to form a canopy fitted with curtains that enveloped the sleeper…
Chinese hand-painted blue and white porcelain in standard patterns, such as landscape and river scenes, offered Westerners a romanticized glimpse of the exotic East and were prized for their durability and artistry. This plate is part of an extensive dinner service which once belonged to Elizabeth Willing…
Even as a bachelor, George Washington acquired choice furnishings which bespoke his gentility and position in Virginia society. He was at the height of elegance in serving tea in the "Compleat sett Fine Image China" that he received in 1757. Throughout the first half of the eighteenth century, Europeans…
In 1790, Scottish émigré cabinetmaker Thomas Affleck was commissioned to craft the seating furniture for the new Congress Hall in Philadelphia. The armchairs Affleck produced embraced the neoclassical aesthetic, which emphasized graceful restraint and classical lines. They were uniform with the exception…
As the Revolutionary War drew to a close, French and American officers formed the Society of the Cincinnati in the name of mutual support and friendship. The fraternity's name was inspired by the 5th-century B.C.E. Roman Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who left his plow to defend Rome in battle, afterwards…
