building the american landscape - Univerza v Novi Gorici

By irony of fate, the first President of the United States provided the first completed
model of a garden capable of highlighting the importance of the lawn. George
Washington’s (1722‐1799) house at Mount Vernon, Fairfax County, Virginia [Figures
91‐92] was built in 1743 by Lawrence Washington, the young George’s “half‐brother
and guardian”. A fact little known by the great European public, George
Washington’s fame as general and politician was overtaken by his fame for his ideas
on gardening. His career as a surveyor in his youth is well‐known among specialists,
who have examined his writings and discovered the ecological value of his notes on
the subject of trees and his knowledge of tree species 207 . The mansion of Mount
Vernon was situated on the banks of the River Potomac and enjoyed a view
overlooking the water. The lawn stretches from the opposite side towards the river
and is edged by a curved line of trees. There are ornamental gardens on each side
of the lawn. The Upper Garden is near the Greenhouse, the gardener’s house and
slave quarters, and was used for botanical experiments and formal beds (Box
Garden). The Lower Garden is on the opposite side and, as its name suggests, was
connected to a lower level to act as a wide terrace resting on descending curves.
The Lower Garden contained an English Kitchen Garden, which followed the typical
layout of colonial gardens. Next to the Lower Garden, on an even lower level
towards the river, there was a horse paddock and a fruit garden (originally a
vineyard which had been abandoned during the revolution). There were, and still
are, numerous buildings surrounding the mansion to support the gardens and 208 the
cultivations practised on the property [Figure 92]. No precise information as to any
interventions by the architects to define the architectural prospect on the estate
have been handed down. However, we know that Washington himself took a
personal interest in the design of the buildings. As regards the upkeep of the
garden, this was usually carried out by experts. Among the many documents which
have been handed down, is the account by Philip Bater, whom Washington
appointed as head gardener. Every week from 1785 onwards until the end of
207 See SPURR, Stephen H., “George Washington, Surveyor and Ecological Observer” published in
Ecology, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Jul., 1951), pp. 544‐549
208 See POGUE, Dennis J., “The Domestic Architecture of Slavery at George Washington's Mount
Vernon” published in Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Spring 2002), The University of Chicago
Press, pp. 3‐22
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