February 15 – September 21, 2003

Today, Mount Vernon more clearly resembles the home known to George Washington than it has at any time during the past 200 years. Without the efforts of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA), who campaigned for, purchased, and restored the property starting in 1853, Mount Vernon might have had a different future — and preservation a different history. Saving Mount Vernon: The Birth of Preservation in America, co-organized by the MVLA with the National Building Museum, celebrated the commitment of those pioneering women, and subsequent generations of Americans dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of this historic estate. A major feature of the exhibition was a miniature replica of the mansion, complete with furnishings. Measuring ten feet long, more than eight feet high, and nearly six feet wide, Mount Vernon in Miniature was on display for the first time in Washington, D.C.