Dear mouse,
When the Filam girl who won in the Jeopardy answered the question who was the US President who did not live in Washington, George Washington, she was correct. G.W lived in Mt. Vernon in Virginia. The mansion still stands today after several reconstructions and restorations were made by the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association of Virginia. For more than 140 years, it was open and was visited by more than`70 million tourists. My brother and I are among those people, one Saturday in the month of September, after my minor surgery.
So the tour was confined mostly to the Mansion grounds and the mansion itself.
The visitors cannot take pictures inside the mansion so we made do with whatever are allowed to be photographed. Among these is the scaled model of the three-storey house. The model shows two levels only until the third level appears to show the bedroom of the late First Lady who stayed mostly on this part of the house after the husband died. Only the two levels are open to the public.
This is the scaled model of the large dining room which opens to the porch at the backyard. I saw this in a movie which chronicled the life of George Washington. But of course, it was mere recreation since this place could not be used by anybody. It seems their furnitures (reproductions ) were smaller in terms of size compared to the ones used these days.
The chairs at the porch were for watching the sunset and the calm Potomac River.
This is one of the collonades that join the outbuildings to the mansion.
The outbuildings are the servant’s hall, the kitchen, the laundry houses, clerk house and guest houses for the personal servants and slaves of visiting dignitaties and or relatives are located at the mansion grounds. In the movie that I saw, G. Washington talked to her wife about incorporating in his will the grant of freedom to their more than 100 slaves . The will provided for the emancipation after Martha Washington’s death, however, one year after the President’s death, his wife freed them all. She provided for pensions for the old and infirms. Then she paid the freed slaves, their salaries.
It is believed that the design of the house which was restored by several artisans, architects, miniaturists was done mostly by George Washington. Architecture then was not a estblished profession. The first US President when informed of the criticism made by the media, said “I can truy say that I’d rather be at Mt. Vernon with a friend or two about me rather than to be atteneded at the seat of government by the officers of the State and the representatives of every power in Europe. ”
For more of the pictures, please go to my travel blog, Travel Tips and Trips.
The Ca t
