Mount Vernon, Virginia might be a small riverside community, but what it lacks in population and size it more than makes up for in beauty and historical significance to this wonderful country. It is estimated that more than a million visitors pass through each year and they are drawn there for one man, the father of our country, George Washington. 

Mount Vernon takes its name from the very estate and home of George Washington and sits proudly on the Potomac River and the border between Virginia and Maryland. Learn more.

It is one of the United States’ most significant landmarks and was given National Historic Landmark status in 1960 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places also. 

The area was acquired in 1674 and was designated as farms and plantations owned by the Washington family. The Washington family gradually returned the land to the people as part of our first President’s final wishes. Learn more about Alexandria here.

Washington’s father Augustine built the Mount Vernon mansion in a Palladian style in 1734. George Washington expanded the home twice and passed away there in 1799. 

The current property consists of around 500 acres that incorporate the Mansion and some 30 other buildings. The Mansion itself is just over 11,000 square feet in size. 

Visitors to the mansion can expect a somewhat ironic interior that is inconsistent with a particular area or even the exterior. Because of the generations of Washingtons that lived there and various extensions added, some rooms are in a Palladian style, 18th-century classical, or even neoclassical. The New Room or Large Dining Room is the main draw card at Washington’s home for tourists, as it is a two-storied salon with massive Palladian windows and a magnificent marble chimney. 

The surrounding gardens of the estate contain an abundance of English boxwoods planted by George Washington himself. The estate’s Colonial Revival Gardens has a number of vegetable gardens and fruit trees that are provided for the mansion’s residents. Washington’s original tomb was previously located along the riverbanks but is now located south of the fruit garden. 

There is a museum and education center on the estate with a number of artifacts attributed to Washington himself. A particular highlight of the museum is Washington’s famous dentures. The Fred W Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington was opened in 2013 and houses many of the first President’s original books and manuscripts. It is only open by appointment though.  

In 2007, the Mount Vernon estate opened a reconstruction of Washington’s own onsite distillery. It is situated only a short distance from the estate. The fully functional replica cost $2.1 million and received special dispensation from the Virginia General Assembly to produce up to 5,000 gallons of whiskey annually. The whiskey is available for purchase in the estate’s gift store.

As of last year, the estate has hosted more than 85 million visitors. In addition to the mansion, surrounding grounds, and education trails, visitors can enjoy a mixture of both original and reconstructed outbuildings and barns (including slaves’ quarters), an operational blacksmith shop, and Pioneer Farm.