At Home with Our Founding Fathers

By Kris Grant

You gain a lot of insights about our history and how we lived over 200 years ago when you visit the homes of our first presidents.

George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon

In honor of Independence Day, let’s take a look at the homes of three of our founding fathers -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

All three presidential estates are in Virginia, and I visited each one on my current trip across America. George Washington’s Mt. Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello were open for public tours inside the homes, while James Madison’s Montpelier was open for grounds tours.

Let’s start with our first President, George Washington. You’ll be able to walk inside the mansion’s first floor and visit 12 outbuildings, including a blacksmith shop and stables, four separate gardens, Washington’s tomb, a farm with costumed interpreters demonstrating Washington’s innovative farming and fishing practices, a distillery and gristmill, the wharf on the Potomac, two museums and a gift shop. By the way, all three of these homes have fantastic gift shops, filled with books and wonderful merchandise you won’t find in other stores. And you can find most of it online!

Mt. Vernon is approximately 13 miles south of Washington. The house and outbuildings are preserved to the year 1799 – the last year of Washington’s life. The home, originally dubbed “The Little Hunting Lodge,” began as the 1½-floor estate of Washington’s father, Augustine, and received its name when Washington’s half-brother Lawrence inherited it upon his father’s death. Upon Lawrence’s death in 1754, the estate passed into George’s hands and he spent the next 45 years slowly enlarging the dwelling, raising its roofline to make it a 2½-story building and creating the 21-room, 11,000 square-foot residence (including full basement) that we see today. Although Washington was away much of the time, he advised on the design, construction and decoration of the mansion, conscious of his stature in the newly formed nation and that “the world was watching.”

In 1787, while he was presiding over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Washington commissioned a weathervane for the mansion’s new cupola, specifying it should “have a bird with an olive branch Washington chose a vibrant green, a color that connoted wealth at the time, for the walls of Mt. Vernon’s dining room.

in its mouth…”

My visit included a tour of the first-floor of the mansion, including the “New Room,” the grandest room of the house, with an intricately carved ceiling and fireplace that depicted scenes of domesticated farm life.

The two-story porch, called a “piazza,” facing the Potomac River is one of the mansion’s most iconic architectural features. Designed by Washington, it copies the pilasters on the exterior of the New Room’s Palladian window, although at a much greater ratio of width to height. The piazza provided additional living space and is widely copied on homes throughout America.

His private study appeared stark, but I was impressed with his novel foot-pedaled “fan” desk. In the same room was his other desk, which he brought with him from Philadelphia, then the seat of government.

The Mt. Vernon Ladies Association, the nation’s first historic preservation organization, bought the mansion, outbuildings and approximately 200 acres in 1858 and the nonprofit organization continues to operate it today.

What was most intriguing about my visit to Mt. Vernon was its Musuem and Education Center, which I visited following the house tour. It answered the question, “What did our first president look like?”

Mt Vernon’s “New Room” was designed to impress visitors. Washington’s ‘fan desk’ was powered by foot pedals. A historical interpreter demonstrates musical instruments of the 1700s.

With a scientific analysis that examined portraits, a 1785 bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon, and even his teeth, a holographic image of Washington was created, from which three-dimensional tableaus within the exhibit depict Washington at different ages of his life.

There’s also an entire room – yes room – dedicated to our first president’s teeth, or should I say, lack of. He began experiencing tooth decay early on, and by the time he reached the presidency, he was down to his last tooth. Two years later, that one was extracted and he spent a small fortune on dentures, owning at least eight pairs. There’s even a set of his dentures in the exhibit! No, his teeth weren’t wooden; they consisted of both hippopotamus and human teeth. But what fascinated me was that they were affixed to a metal steel contraption that was spring loaded. I guess Polident’s Dentu-creme was centuries

away…

More importantly, the museum traces Washington’s career in the military, including his initial defeats during the French and Indian War serving with the British military. How we ever won the Revolutionary War is amazing, and much of it was due not to exceptionalism on the battlefield but Washington’s reliance on espionage. Who knew?

Washington was born into a family of rather prominent means that made its fortune through planting tobacco and land speculation. But his father died when George was 11, and he did not receive the Latin-based education in England that his older brothers had. Little is known about his education, although it is speculated that he had local tutors. He earned a certificate as a land surveyor and became the surveyor for Culpepper County, Virginia and continued surveying the Blue Ridge Mountain area, developing a knowledge of Native American lands. He began purchasing acreage and making his own fortune. At age 26 he married Martha Dandridge Custis, the widow of Virginia planter Daniel Custis. Martha received a one-third interest in the estate, which included nearly 300 slaves. Washington had already inherited 12 slaves from his father’s estate and nine more from his brother Lawrence.

Washington began writing at a fairly early age about the inhumanity of slave holding but was uncertain of a way to divest himself of slave ownership:

“To sell the overplus I cannot, because I am principled against this kind of traffic in the human species. To hire them out is almost as bad because they could not be disposed of in families to any advantage, and to disperse the families I have an aversion. What then is to be done? Something must, or I shall be ruined…”

Washington died just two years after leaving office. He was a rich man, owning some 51,000 acres in Virginia and beyond. After his death, his widow Martha freed all his slaves.

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is in Charlottesville, just a few miles from the University of Virginia, which he conceived and helped found as an “Academical Village” and served as the master architect. You simply must include a visit to the University to see his original buildings there as part of your trip to Monticello!

The Academical Village – the Rotunda, Lawn and Range rooms, hotels, gardens and pavilions – make up Jefferson’s original plan for the school. Students and their teachers would live together, attend classes on the ground floor of the professors’ homes and interact daily. Nearly 200 years after Jefferson first articulated it, his ideal is still operating, and is the reason the university and Monticello, both done in Neo-Classical style, were together named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. On the university campus, Ambassadors are available to point to Jefferson’s original buildings and provide directions; there are also landmark signs.

We know so much about Thomas Jefferson because he left a huge amount of correspondence behind – some 19,000 individual documents! How did he do that? He dutifully learned to master a new device – then known as a polygraph machine (not related to today’s lie-detector device) that duplicated his handwriting. Think about it: there were no copiers, no mimeograph machines of that era.

He was so organized!

His bedroom was downstairs, adjacent to his light-filled office. I pictured the guy writing, writing, writing, then walking 10

Jefferson wrote on a newly invented machine that made a copy of his writing. Monticello was designed in a Neo-classical style

A statue of Jefferson stands before a building of his design at the University of Virginia. feet and collapsing into bed.

On the other side of his writing office was his library, which was the largest and finest in the country in its formative years. After the British army invaded Washington and burned the Capitol in 1814, including the fledgling Library of Congress’s 3,000 volumes, Jefferson sold his 6,487-volume collection to Congress to “recompense” the library the following year. Then on Christmas Eve 1851 another fire destroyed about two-thirds of Jefferson’s books. Oh well…

Another thing that struck me was the diminutive size of the staircases at Monticello, and I inquired about them from one of the knowledgeable guides. It turns out that when Monticello was originally built, he featured a grand central staircase. But when Jefferson visited Paris in the years 1784 – 1789, during the Age of Enlightenment, he became conscious of the tenor of the times: ostentatiousness was out, and he did away with the central staircase, and replaced them with two smaller curved staircases. Of course, since his bedroom was on the first floor, it didn’t matter much to him, practically speaking!

On the grounds you will see displays of equipment for spinning and weaving, a former carriage, his wine and beer storage and more.

Actor / imterpreter Bill Barker brings Jefferson to life five days a week at Monticello.

A highlight of my visit was meeting Thomas Jefferson (as portrayed by veteran historical actor-interpreter Bill Barker). He appears Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Also instructive was Vickie McDonald’s “Slavery at Monticello” talk. Stopping at various locations along “Mulberry Row” where most slaves lived (although Sally Hemings and others had quarters in the mansion’s basement), McDonald explained a typical life of a slave on the Jefferson estate. Up until 10 years of age, children stayed at home, cared for by older women slaves. Older men who could no longer work in the fields cared for the gardens. At age 10, girls typically went to work as seamstresses, while young boys stoked fires in the nail factory. The nails turned out by Jefferson’s slaves were often more of a source of income than crops. Make no mistake; it wasn’t a pretty, happy life. Life was dirty, gritty, and smelly and they were, after all, slaves.

In contrast to Washington, Jefferson was in debt when he died, to the tune of $140,000! To recoup his losses, his heirs sold his land and his slaves – 130 slaves to be exact. How sad; he wanted to free them… Jefferson tore out a grand staircase and replaced it with two smaller staircases.

Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 – the 50th anniversary of July 4, 1776, arguably the most important date in all of American history. He died just five hours before his friend John Adams, the second president of the United States.

For his tombstone, Jefferson left explicit instructions on what should be inscribed “and not one word more.” The obelisk on his tomb at Monticello is thus engraved: HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Not one word that he served as the third President of the United States!

As I drove the 30 miles from Monticello to Montpelier, the landscape, which was already verdant, grew ever more green and tall, with dappled light promising me a bright, new day. With each fork in the road, each bend in the avenue leading to the estate, I felt I was approaching a place of enlightenment. Silly, I guess, but I wasn’t far off, as I later learned that the Montpelier Foundation mission emphasizes that:

Montpelier is more than just the home of one of America’s Founding Fathers. It’s a place where we can learn how our Constitution affects our everyday lives. It’s an ongoing archaeological dig that tells us more about 18th century life every day. It’s a destination for anyone who wants to know more about how the thinking of James Madison changed the world.

James Madison, more than any other single individual, wrote the Constitution of the United States. His most powerful idea: government by the people. Madion also joined Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in writing the Federalist Papers to promote the ratification of the Constitution. The series of 85 essays were published under the pseudonym “Publius.”

There’s a bronze statue of James and Dolley Madison in front of the visitor center: James is often known as the intellect, while Dolley was known for her heart. She is generally regarded as America’s first First Lady, whose “Wednesday Nights” social gatherings brought together politicians from both sides of the aisle. (We could use her talents today, don’t you think?)

Although the mansion was still closed due to COVID, the eight miles of Montpelier Trails through wildflower meadows, horse pastures, and forests, including Old-Growth Landmark Forest, offer spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Trails are open Thursday through Monday during business hours and can be accessed at the trailhead kiosk just below the parking lot at the David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center. You can find more details on the trails at Montpelier’s website.

If you’re looking for a place to stay that will help bring presidential history alive, consider The Dinsmore Country Inn, also known as the Dinsmore House in the heart of Charlottesville. It was the former home of James Dinsmore, the master carpenter who Thomas Jefferson turned to in helping to shape Monticello and the University of Virginia. And after his work at Monticello was done, in 1809, Dinsmore moved on to build President James Madison’s Montpelier.

“James Dinsmore, a more faithful, honest and respectable man I have never known.” --Thomas Jefferson

Born in Northern Ireland in 1771, Dinsmore became a naturalized citizen in Philadelphia in June of 1798. His tools, purchased in Philadelphia at Thomas Jefferson’s expense, were sent to Monticello where Dinsmore worked as a master carpenter.

During his time at the University of Virginia, Dinsmore was the principal master carpenter for Pavilions III, V, and VIII; fourteen dormitories; and together with John Neilson, the Rotunda and Anatomical Theatre. The same bricks and mortar that were used to construct the Rotunda were used to build the circa 1835 townhouse at The Dinsmore Inn.

My bedroom was a former garden room that was added onto the house; the headboard to my bed backed onto the former back wall of the house, composed of those 200+ year-old bricks. I had a delightful stay, made even more so by the breakfast served at the onsite Farm Bell kitchen restaurant.

iF You go:

George Washington’s Mt. Vernon

3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway, Mount Vernon, Virginia Tickets: www.mountvernon.org (703) 780-2000

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville,Virginia Tickets: www.Monticello.org (434) 984-9800

James Madison’s Montpelier

11350 Constitution Highway, Montpelier Station, Virginia www.montpelier.org (540) 672-2728 x 460

Dinsmore House

1211 West Main Street, Charlottesville www.dinsmorehouse.com (434) 974-4663

University of Virginia

Begin at the Rotunda, 1826 University Avenue, Charlottesville Historical tours: During the academic year, historical tours are offered free of charge and meet daily at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Rotunda’s Lower East Oval Room. (434) 924-7969