Personal Tour of Mount Vernon by George Washington

[Music] foreign good day I have understood that you had some curiosity about the house and I'm very pleased to be able to answer questions for you this is where I begin every day although I will tell you that it is not common for us to have guests here my wife and I when we've been married some 13 years we decided that we wanted to have our own bed chamber that was somewhat separate from the rest of the house and so I added an extension upon the house to the South part and this and the study below were the result every day I begin here and I am not dressed in what I currently am but I shall not be exposing myself to any criticism in that nature right now and uh as my wife will stay up here for some time and begin some of her meditations for the day and also we'll take some time in what is considered her office here but then I shall head down the stairs something I must warn you about I have quite a bit of difficulty when I pass through these stairs I almost always have to duck to avoid hitting my head and if I do not remind myself to do so it takes great effort not to let Oaths fall from my mouth but as you can see uh while the house has been built to my every desire sometimes things fall a bit short and now we are entering my study or My Sanctuary as I said before after my wife and I were married some 13 years we decided we needed a bit more privacy we had many guests even then and we built the bed chamber above and my study here below every morning when I Rise I come down the stairs come right through this door where I change into my clothes for the day and then I begin the work of my correspondence which is voluminous it seems that letters come from all corners of the globe and I am constantly needing to continue to write but in here in my private area I keep my books which I've collected over the many years and I keep some other mementos that I think are important to keep close to me including that of my brother Lawrence my eldest brother who was uh my very dear friend as well and I don't think that anyone could ask for a better brother than what I had in Lawrence when I was about 11 years old my father passed away and Lawrence very much so stepped into the breach that was left by him I owe great deal to him also of course I'm surrounded by other things busts of Captain Jones this this fan share which seems to get a great deal of curiosity from some people was one I purchased in Philadelphia it does an adequate job of keeping one cool although one does get their exercise in their feet at the same time but let me take you on to the dining area I think you'll find a that more public areas of the home or perhaps more social into your liking [Music] after the business of the day the correspondence and anything else that needs attention is taken care of in the study then we will come here for our breakfast my wife usually sees to it that I have something good before me quite often a large stack of corn pancakes covered with honey butter very much to my liking you may note the color of the room I've been told many times that green is excellent for the digestion and in this case it is a verdigree green that uh well it's not easy to acquire and it takes quite a bit of Maintenance but I'm quite pleased with the appearance of it I hope you find it your liking as well this room has some very happy memories in it and some not as happy but uh I will leave that for another time perhaps you would like to join me in the entryway the staircase here while it is very attractive has the unfortunate effect of making it so that my windows from the West Front are not as symmetrical as I would like it was a compromise that I had to make while designing the house and enlarging it we are now in the entryway and that is the domain of our Butler Frank here at Mount Vernon my main duties are to supervise the other slaves working in this household and to greet all the guests to come through this door here and if there is time I'll even take them to meet the general and if the house is running properly I always know that is because of the great efforts of Frank this over here might be of some interest to you this is the key to the Bastille this is a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette when the Bastille fell he saw to it that the key was packed and shipped to me it passed through quite few hands before it came here to Mount Vernon below it is a picture of that Fortress that he considered to be a fortress of tyranny and so the symbol of the destroyed Bastille and the key that is left he now says is a symbol of Liberty and the end of tyranny may it ever be so but uh perhaps you might like to see the formal parlor this is our formal parlor and as you can see it is arranged for entertaining guests the portraits are those my wife quite likes this one of course done by Mr peel that she requested but the others here were actually done before I married her they were done by an artist by the name of Williston and you may note that the portrait here and portrait the children on the other side all bear the same eyes it is a feature of Mr williston's work which I cannot abide by I find it uh very disturbing nothing like the the figures themselves but Mr Williston was very popular in these parts and my wife of course having lost both of the children now very much so views these is too dear to ever put away put down although there were some better portraits of them made still this is the room where we'll most likely bring guests if we are having a more formal situation but this is not the family parlor that is just over the way let me take you there thank you this is our family parlor and far from the formal parlor this is the one where we spend our time together as a family quite often in the evening after our supper we will read from the newspaper or sometimes from books that we've been reading perhaps a passage from a play very entertaining evening spent here with friends and family alike also you may note that my granddaughter plays at the harpsichord I myself cannot raise a note on instrumental by voice but she has become very accomplished and the wallpaper in here is a cherry blossom theme it Delights my wife and I don't think I've ever seen a Cheerio wallpaper in all of Virginia well might we then continue on out to the Piazza yes thank you I've often said that there's no home or happily situated in all of America than Mount Vernon the view from The Piazza speaks to that you can see our neighbors in Maryland from here we can see all the trade that is coming up the river and it is an excellent place to spend the afternoon my wife and I quite often will take our dinner right here on the Piazza enjoy that breeze it cools you in the afternoon our guests have found it quite delightful as well I think that there is perhaps No Place Within the house that feels as much like a room without being one it is my outdoor room if you will but uh let me take you a little further into the new room [Music] this is what I call the new room I began this project in 1776. but it was more than 10 years before I saw it completed I wanted a more gentle room for entertaining guests something that spoke of oh the direction I saw America headed and certainly hoping that our fortunes would follow farming is the theme of course as it is through most of my home in fact one visitor Mr Vaughn was so impressed with what we were beginning here that he was kind enough to send me his very own fireplace here that is in itself a farm theme and I've had it installed and I think it works very well within the room you may also notice some of the art for instance the Hudson River painting here just after the the peace agreements were reached and I was in Newburgh New York I had opportunity to take some of the land going up the Hudson River and saw some of the farmland that western land that I feel will be very much so part of the expansion in our future I think that that Farmland I have not seen any richer or more prosperous that has not yet been seized and so I hope that at some point in the near future to acquire some of that land for myself but I also see that being a great Bread Basket for our future endeavors in farming the plaster work above you might note is that which is built by a gentleman I acquired from my sister he was working at her house of Kenmore and began this plaster work there and I was so taken with it I asked if he would come here and do a similar work here but with with my themes in mind instead and this window is the window that Mr peel once said has what he called good painting light he said painting from the north is always an excellent choice and so that is uh that is the crowning piece of the room I feel well I certainly hope you've enjoyed uh walk through the house today I hope you'll come back and see us again very soon it's a great pleasure to be with you [Music]

Channel: George Washington's Mount Vernon

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Length: 11min 58sec (718 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 18 2023