Claim: George Washington was alive in 1775.

Mount Vernon was the plantation house of George Washington , the first President of the United States , and his wife , Martha Dandridge Custis Washington . The estate is situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County , Virginia , near Alexandria , across from Prince George 's County , Maryland . The Washington family had owned land in the area since the time of Washington 's great-grandfather in 1674 . In 1739 they embarked on an expansion of the estate that continued under George Washington , who came into possession of the estate in 1754 , but did not become its sole owner until 1761 .   The mansion is built of wood in a loose Palladian style , and was constructed by George Washington in stages between 1758 and 1778 . It occupies the site of an earlier , smaller house built by George Washington 's father Augustine , some time between 1726 and 1735 . It remained Washington 's country home for the rest of his life . Following his death in 1799 , under the ownership of several successive generations of the family , the estate progressively declined as revenues were insufficient to maintain it adequately . In 1858 , the house 's historical importance was recognized and it was saved from ruin by The Mount Vernon Ladies ' Association ; this philanthropic organization acquired it together with part of the Washington property estate . Escaping the damage suffered by many plantation houses during the American Civil War , Mount Vernon was restored .   Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places . It is still owned and maintained in trust by The Mount Vernon Ladies ' Association , and is open every day of the year . Allowing the public to see the estate is not an innovation , but part of a 200-year-old tradition started by George Washington himself . In 1794 he wrote : `` I have no objection to any sober or orderly person 's gratifying their curiosity in viewing the buildings , Gardens , & ca . about Mount Vernon . ''