Mount Vernon

Saturday, August 31 – After dropping Sandy off at the airport, I wanted to make a quick visit to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, since I hadn’t been there since I was a kid, and it was a nice complement to our American History tour stops at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Colonial Williamsburg.   Plus, it’s only 15 miles from National Airport.

After watching the introductory video in the Visitor’s Center, my first thought when I saw the house was, “It is beige!”  In every picture I’ve ever seen of Mount Vernon, it was white (including postcards and in the video at the Vistor’s Center).  I obviously had to get to the bottom of this.  I learned that the exterior of the house is not just regular paint.  It is “rusticated.” 

The house is all wood, but the exterior façade was made to look like stone by chiseling wood to look like large bricks, and then coating it with sand.  The house has been restored to be in the form it was in in 1799, the year that Washington died.  They learned a couple of years ago that Washington had it rusticated using sand from a quarry nearby (which was free), instead of buying bleached sand.  This sand had a beige tone, which leads the experts to believe that Washington had it rusticated in this color at one point, rather than white.  The tour guide also said that they believe the rustication has helped preserve the wood façade over the many years.

It’s also interesting to visit a place like this by yourself, since most everyone is there in groups.  It’s kinda fun, since you can wander and linger as long as you want.  I also found that people find it easy to ask someone who is alone to take their picture for them.  I was happy to do so, but then asked them to reciprocate.  It’s a great way to meet people!

My last stop before heading out to DC was George and Martha Washington's tomb, which is in a nice spot below the estate and fields.