12-Acre Field

When people approached Mount Vernon on horseback or by carriage they first saw the Mansion from the west, across a half-mile-long “visto,” or view.  This view was created by pruning and cutting trees in the outlying woods. Visitors passed through the West Gate and continued along the road towards the Bowling Green. From the gate, at the bottom of the Bowling Green, they could look up to see the elegant Mansion framed by two serpentine walks, beds full of plants, and thick groves of trees.