[EDINVA]

I’m going to guess you’ve never visited Mt. Vernon. The people who work there consider it sacred ground. Most are volunteers, with some paid staff.

The estate was forsaken and gone to seed before a group of women in the area bought it and began the slow process of restoration that’s gone on now for over 100 years. To fund its operation, there’s an admission charge, and there is a gift shop at the entrance, but it is no “Mt. Vernonland.”

[khnyny]

It’s an absolutely wonderful place. The employees are extremely dedicated and the place is in picture perfect condition with wonderful views of the Potomac.

Here’s a link to the history of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union:

http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/plan/index.cfm/pid/809/

With the purchase of Mount Vernon behind them, Cunningham and the Vice Regents of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association began the challenging task of restoration. Fortunately, Ann Pamela Cunningham possessed the sensibilities of a true preservationist. She immediately dismissed all proposals to tear down Washington’s outbuildings or to transform the landscape. The words of her farewell address to her fellow board members would establish a concise and eloquent mission statement that would serve as a guide for future historic preservation sites and which continues to be followed at Mount Vernon today:

“Ladies, the Home of Washington is in your charge. See to it that you keep it the Home of Washington! Let no irreverent hand change it; no vandal hands desecrate it with the fingers of – progress! Those who go to the Home in which he lived and died, wish to see in what he lived and died! Let one spot in this grand country of ours be saved from “change!” Upon you rests this duty.”

[La Enchiladita]

a group of women in the area bought it and began the slow process of restoration

God bless them!!