East front of Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, VA, 1934

About this postcard

The east front of Mount Vernon faces the Potomac, with the long two-story piazza running along the river side of the white frame mansion. Dormers and a central cupola with a weathervane rise above the red roof; a large tree frames the left of the view, and the arched service wing and colonnades reach toward the office and kitchen wings. George Washington expanded the plantation house to its present size between 1774 and 1787, and the piazza overlooking the river was among his additions. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, which bought the estate in 1858, has operated it as a historic house museum, one of the country's earliest preservation efforts.