'A well-resorted tavern' - Mount Vernon, Virginia, US, part I A property in the care of Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

In the first of two articles, Jeremy Musson looks at the remarkable history and preservation of the country home of America's first president

MOUNT VERNON―the former home of George Washington, first President of the US-is an extraordinary place; a dignified Virginian gentleman's seat (Fig 1) overlooking the Potomac River that was built in several phases throughout the 18th century. With an exterior clad in timber, detailed and painted to appear like stone rustication, the house is probably the most intensely researched in America. It has been the subject of a sustained preservation campaign, with a great deal of significant work taking place over the past 12 years; this is due for completion in 2026 and will be part of the 250-year celebrations of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

A final phase includes the reintroduction of a lost timber sole plate that will help underpin the structural integrity of the building for the next century. This is the first of two articles examining the history of the house and site as it moves towards the end of a major programme of repairs. The second article will focus on the restoration of the interiors.

Unsurprisingly, Mount Vernon has been a subject of fascination, mostly because of George Washington, major-general and commander-in-chief of the American or 'Continental' army that fought the British in the American Revolutionary War (as the War of Independence is now usually known), before becoming the first elected president of the new American nation (Fig 4). His character and values helped shape the fledgling country's sense of self and he himself shaped Mount Vernon, providing designs for the house with his own pen, in the spirit of a gentleman amateur, and the provision of pattern-book exemplars for his craftsmen.