Supporters of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate and gardens used golden shovels June 18 to break ground for new, state-of-the-art visitor orientation, education, and museum buildings designed by GWWO Inc./Architects, Baltimore. The buildings are the major components of an $85 million “To Keep Him First” program to reintroduce George Washington to the American public.

Ground-breaking ceremonies included planting a massive red maple, the first of 200 well-developed trees—representing 27 different species George Washington grew at Mount Vernon—destined for the grounds of the estate. The trees, in two locations to the northwest of the house, will help screen the new facilities from view from the historic area. The buildings—the Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center—will be completed by the end of 2006.

Respectful design and landscaping
To ensure that the museum and education center did not detract from the historic mansion, GWWO designed 65 percent of the 66,700-square-foot complex to be under the four-acre pasture just inside Mount Vernon’s main gate. The pastoral setting and viewsheds to and from the mansion will be preserved, and Hogg Island sheep, like those Washington raised 200 years ago, will graze in the pasture. Serving as the only presidential library for Washington, the museum and education center will also be America’s only presidential library with grass for a roof.

“Despite its significant size, the complex will nestle into the landscape, and visitors will not be aware of the scale of the building,” said GWWO Principal Alan Reed, AIA. “Moreover, the infusion of natural light into the lobby and main circulation corridors at all levels will ease the transition to the lower level, and visitors most likely never will realize they are underground.”

Landscape architect Roger Courtenay, principal of EDAW Inc., Alexandria, Va., worked closely with the GWWO team throughout the design process to ensure that the architecture and landscape enhance each other in much the same way as did Washington’s original house and garden designs.

Ford Orientation Center
Located just inside the historic Texas Gate, the main entrance to Mount Vernon, the Ford Orientation Center (named after the Ford Motor Company, its major benefactor) will introduce visitors to the personality and character of George Washington “as his contemporaries knew him.” The Mount Vernon Estate reports that “the center will dispel the traditional image of the stern-faced old man on the dollar bill and reveal the true George Washington, a charismatic hero, visionary, and entrepreneur who overcame childhood adversities and lack of formal education to lead an ill-trained army into victory against the mighty British empire, hold a struggling infant nation together, and lay the groundwork for a free and prosperous America.”

The lobby of the new center will feature an elliptical floor-to-ceiling glass wall with views to the pasture beyond. The light-filled space will give visitors a continuous visual connection to the estate. Visitors also will be able to enjoy the lobby’s stained-glass window depicting five critical scenes from Washington’s life. Below the c. 1950s-1960s stained glass panels will be a timeline of his 67 years.

The center will use two adjacent theaters seating a total of 450 people to show a large-format, 15-minute film providing insight into the story of Washington’s life. It also will house “Mount Vernon in Miniature,” an authentic, one-twelfth-scale version of the mansion that has been touring the U.S. since its 1999 debut. The $500,000 model was created over a period of five years by miniaturists, artisans, and Washington enthusiasts. Two of its walls raise and lower mechanically, and the roof opens to reveal the beautifully furnished 22-room house, with its finely detailed woodwork and reproductions of Washington’s furniture, china, paintings, and books. The curators report that a single mouse whisker was used to hand-paint some details on porcelain and lacquer ware pieces.

As Washington’s presidential library the center will offer anyone anywhere in the world online access to all of Washington’s papers and 40,000 letters via its Web site. Mount Vernon is currently raising money to have the letters digitized by the University of Virginia and the Library of Congress. Visiting scholars will have access to its entire collection of official papers, personal letters, and many of Washington’s 900 books.

Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center
The Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center features 23 galleries and “theater experiences” that stress the importance of Washington’s military and presidential careers as well as events not covered by the usual Mount Vernon tour. Constructed primarily underground, the museum and education center employs computer imaging, LED map displays, dynamic graphics, surround-sound audio programs, “immersion” videos, illusionist lighting effects, dramatic staging, and touch-screen computer monitors. The center’s Revolutionary War Theater will offer a 12-minute multimedia presentation showcasing Washington’s role in three major battles, in Boston, Trenton, and Yorktown, and provide viewers the ultimate in theatrical entertainment: snow, rumble seats, and fog.

The gallery entitled “A Leader’s Smile,” will display Washington’s famous mechanically hinged dentures, which were made of human teeth, cow teeth, and elephant ivory; not wood, contrary to popular belief. “Once you see these very uncomfortable false teeth, you understand why Washington looked so pained in so many of his portraits,” said Jim Rees, Mount Vernon’s executive director. In another gallery, visitors will walk through a wooded set, hearing bullets, cannons, and other sounds of war, before reaching Fort Necessity. Nine videos on Washington’s accomplishments as a farmer, inventor, architect, and entrepreneurial businessman, produced by The History Channel, tell other stories of his remarkable life. The museum also will feature Washington’s treasures, from his ceremonial state sword to Rembrandt Peale’s “porthole” portraits of George and Martha Washington.

Another important feature of the museum will be an authentic crime scene investigation laboratory using the latest forensic techniques to transform Washington graphically from an older adult into a vigorous, youthful frontiersman. The museum also will display three life-size, authentically attired figures of Washington as he probably looked as a 19-year-old surveyor, 45-year-old commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and 57-year-old president. A team that includes a forensic scientist, computer 3-D modeling group, plastic surgeon, portrait expert, and craftsmen will create and clothe the images.

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