Over the past two hundred years, Americans have reproduced George
Washington's Mount Vernon plantation house more often, and in a greater variety of media,
than any of their country's other historic buildings. In this highly original new book,
Lydia Mattice Brandt chronicles America's obsession with the first president's
iconic home through advertising, prints, paintings, popular literature, and the full-scale
replication of its architecture.Even before Washington's death in 1799,
his house was an important symbol for the new nation. His countrymen used it to idealize the
past as well as to evoke contemporary--and even divisive--political and social ideals. In the
wake of the mid-nineteenth century's revival craze, Mount Vernon became an obvious choice
for architects and patrons looking to reference the past through buildings in residential
neighborhoods, at world's fairs, and along the commercial strip. The singularity of the
building's trademark piazza and its connection to Washington made it immediately
recognizable and easy to replicate. As a myriad of Americans imitated the
building's architecture, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association carefully interpreted
and preserved its fabric. Purchasing the house in 1859 amid intense scrutiny, the organization
safeguarded Washington's home and ensured its accessibility as the nation's leading
historic house museum. Tension between popular images of Mount Vernon and the
organization's "official" narrative for the house over the past 150 years
demonstrates the close and ever-shifting relationship between historic preservation and popular
architecture.In existence for roughly as long as the United States itself, Mount Vernon's
image has remained strikingly relevant to many competing conceptions of our country's
historical and architectural identity.
Copyright:
2016
Book Details
Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9780813939261
Publisher:
University of Virginia Press
Date of Addition:
12/02/16
Copyrighted By:
the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia