(Visited 29 August & 6 October 2016) Perhaps one of the most famous homes in the United States, Mount Vernon was George and Martha Washington’s plantation. George expanded the house from what his father had built around 1735, to what it is today. On the grounds is also the final resting places of George and Martha, as well as some other family members. I remember visiting Mount Vernon both as a child with my family, and with my 8th grade class, with it looking much as it does today.
The front of Mount Vernon. Very difficult picture to get without tourists in it!The kitchen building, attached to the main mansion with a breezewayInside the kitchen buildingSome of the out-buildingsThe back side of the mansion, overlooking the Potomac RiverThe view of the Potomac River from the back of the mansionThe basement entrance where the president and Gates entered to find the hidden tunnel in the movie “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.” We weren’t permitted to take pictures in the basement…The gardensThe “necessary”Inside the “necessary”The Dung Repository is the first known structure in the U.S. devoted to compostingFuture baconThe Ice House, where ice from the frozen Potomac River was storedInside the Ice HouseThe old burial vault, where George & Martha (among many other Washingtons) were buried until the new vault was builtThe tomb of George and Martha WashingtonGeorge (right) and Martha (left) burial sitesThe wharf below the mansionThe bank on the Potomac River below the mansion where the Gates character (played by Nicolas Cage) came to shore to crash the president’s birthday partyAbout in the center of the his is the outlet of the tunnel from the Ice House which was the inspiration for the tunnels from under the Mount Vernon mansion in the movie “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.”Boat house, likely built by one of GW’s nephews. Running down on the left is a natural springA view of the mansion from the bank of the Potomac RiverThe Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount VernonThe Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount Vernon, batteau construction projectThe Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount Vernon, fish hatcheryThe Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount VernonThe Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount VernonThe 16-sided barn at the Pioneer Farm at Mount Vernon.The Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount VernonThe Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount VernonThe Pioneer Farm on the grounds of Mount Vernon, slave cabin