George Washington Mount Vernon History

Mount Vernon is a two story mansion, and is ten times larger than the average colonial home in Virginia. It was home to George Washington the United States first Chief Executive, and esteemed leader of the colonial armies. Living there since he was three, Mount Vernon was a large source of George Washington's revenue, which led to him becoming a major leader of Virginia (nps.gov). In 1735, the home was owned by Augustine Washington the father of George Washington. After Augustine passed away, the estate was bequeathed to Lawrence Washington the half brother of George in 1754 (mountvernon.org). During the years Lawrence owned the estate, George worked in the plantation, becoming a master at growing tobacco, and raising stock (nps.gov). In 1762 after renting the plantation for

Mount Vernon is a commemoration to George Washington’s legacy and was a place he took refuge in. In the years that George Washington owned Mount vernon, he took pride in his plantation, so much that he refurbished and expanded it several times. One of the key features in Mount Vernon is the piazza. Standing at two stories high, the piazza was built by George Washington in December 1783. The piazza’s most unique feature, is that it was designed to face the river bed. Today, the piazza still stands at Mount Vernon, chairs and seats are placed so that visitors can view the river, just like Washington intended his guests to do. George Washington wrote, “Employed myself the greatest part of the day in pruning and shaping the young plantation of trees and shrubs" (mountvernon.org). This is a quote that comes from one of the many