Mount Vernon in Miniature
Mount Vernon in Miniature, an exact replica of the Washingtons’ home, gives visitors unprecedented views of the Mansion. At a scale of one-inch-to-one-foot, the Miniature not only faithfully re-creates the real Mansion, it also includes such intricate details as turning door knobs, latching latches, and windows that open. In addition, the door knocker knocks, drawers open, and – believe it or not – the candles and fireplaces illuminate! Each of the 22 rooms, painted to match the colors on the Mansion walls, is authentically appointed with copies of the stylish furnishings that Washington acquired in America and from France, England, and China. Hundreds of objects including oil paintings, porcelain, and books are featured in the Miniature.
Mechanized walls that recede give visitors full visual access to the Mansion, allowing them to peek into rooms not typically on display such as the cellar and the recently refurbished third floor garret bedchamber where Martha Washington moved after George Washington died. By seeing the whole house at once, visitors get an understanding of the scale of the Mansion and the way the rooms relate to each other.
“Not only does Mount Vernon in Miniature give visitors an intimate view of the Mansion, it accurately depicts Washington’s home based on an inventory taken just after his death,” said Linda Ayres, associate director for collections. “So when artifacts, like Washington’s globe, are removed for conservation or placed in the new Museum, the Miniature will show visitors where those treasures would have been in the Mansion.”
Completed in 1998, the Miniature is not just a model, it is a unique masterpiece created over five years by a group of more than 50 miniaturists, artisans, and “George enthusiasts”. Experts from as far away as the British Isles contributed to the Miniature, using everything from a mouse’s whisker to paint blue and white Canton china to more common instruments such as a photocopy machine’s “reduce” button to create small portraits.
Valued at over $500,000, Mount Vernon in Miniature weighs nearly 1,500 pounds and measures ten feet long, more than eight feet high, and approximately six feet wide. It is displayed in a state-of-the-art glass case that extends 16 feet to the ceiling and is lit from above.
Since 1998, Mount Vernon in Miniature has traveled to a dozen museums and presidential libraries throughout the United States. A gift of the People of the State of Washington, it now permanently resides in the Ford Orientation Center.
Fun Facts About Mount Vernon in Miniature
Building Details
¨ Architect: Stan Ohman of Port Orchard, Washington
¨ Artists and designers: dozens of international artists and miniaturists
¨ Time to build: 4,500 hours over five years
¨ Cost: over $500,000
¨ Gift of the People of the State of Washington
¨ Size, weight and scale: 10 feet long, eight and a half feet high and six feet wide with 22 rooms; nearly 1,500 pounds; one inch = one foot
¨ Colors: match the 18th-century colors at Mount Vernon
¨ Number of roof shingles: 16,000, each one and a half inches long
¨ Three walls can be raised and lowered for maximum viewing
Interior Details
¨ The door knobs on the eight exterior and 36 interior doors turn, the latches latch, the 58 windows open and close, the candles and fireplaces illuminate, the door knocker knocks, and most drawers open.
¨ 19 Windsor chairs are on the piazza.
¨ There are approximately 100 chairs.
¨ The small dining room is furnished with more than 50 pieces of silverware.
¨ The rug in the small dining room is done in one-twelfth scale and took over 500 hours of needlepoint in a 24-stitch count.
¨ The study includes busts of George Washington and John Paul Jones.
¨ Tables have actual carved inlay, not faux paint finish.
¨ The blue and white Canton china was hand-painted with a mouse whisker.
¨ The presidential chair swivels just like the real one.
¨ The globe was created using a modern decoupage method which was very similar to the original treatment.
¨ The miniature nameplate on the trunk in Washington's study has George Washington's full signature etched in it and is smaller than one-eighth of an inch.
¨ The miniature fan chair works just like the real one - the foot pedal moves up and down causing the fan to swing back and forth.
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For more information on the Ford Orientation Center, please contact Emily Coleman Dibella at edibella@mountvernon.org or 703-799-8607.
