Mount Vernon (Va. : Estate)

Mount Vernon was the plantation of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife, Martha Washington. The estate is on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Alexandria, across from Prince George's County, Maryland. The Washington family owned land in the area since the time of Washington's great-grandfather in 1674. Around 1734 they embarked on an expansion of the estate that continued under George Washington, who began leasing the estate in 1754, but did not become its sole owner until 1761.

The Mount Vernon estate totaled nearly 8,000 acres at its completion and was divided into five farms, each a complete unit with its own overseers, work force of slaves, livestock, equipment, and buildings. The Mansion House Farm was not a farm in the typical sense of the word—no large-scale cultivation of field crops was carried on or around the house. Rather, the 500 acres directly around the mansion were developed as a gentleman's country seat, a new-world version of an English country house of the period. Located within a deep border of woods were rolling meadows, vistas, and groves of trees.

Between the mansion and the river shore was an extensive park, and below the kitchen garden was an enclosed vineyard. Small areas were cultivated, but these were usually restricted to testing new crops and agricultural methods. The four farms--River, Muddy Hole, Dogue, and Union--were the focus of intensive agricultural activity. As many as 200 slaves and other workers lived on the farms, and more than 3000 acres were under cultivation.