Photo by Rachel Gordon
French Ambassador Philippe Etienne is flanked by Mount Vernon President and CEO Doug Blackburn and Lafayette re-enactor Benjamin Goldman in the newly restored Lafayette bedchambers at Mount Vernon.
His Excellency Philippe Etienne, Ambassador of France to the United States, helped unveil the newly restored Marquis de Lafayette Bedchamber Thursday morning at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
The opening of the room was appropriately scheduled on Bastille Day, during a special ceremony alongside Mount Vernon CEO Doug Bradburn.
"It's not hyperbole to note that we the United States would not have won our national struggle for independence without French aid," he said in remarks Thursday morning. "Mr. Ambassador? Here at Mount Vernon. The reality is embodied forcefully by the example of the Marquis de Lafayette, who combined a dashing and boundless energy and courage with romantic enthusiasm for the cause of liberty. He bled in the cause of American freedom and gave generously and passionately to improve the world that he inherited, and he was beloved of the Washington family. His portrait, and his family portrait hung in the front parlor, the room in the Mansion House reserved for family likenesses, he was an adopted son."
"It's a moving experience for for me to see this restored room where the Marquis de Lafayette stayed, I think on two occasions in 1784 and then again in 1824," the Ambassador noted.
The ceremony also featured remarks from renowned Lafayette reenactor Benjamin Goldman, and a discussion of the bedchamber’s renovations and historical significance by Mount Vernon’s Executive Director of Historic Preservation and Collections Susan P. Schoelwer.
Mount Vernon’s curatorial team and “Marquis de Lafayette” provided a tour of the collection’s French highlights, including the Key to the Bastille.
The re-installation of the Lafayette Room at Mount Vernon is the culmination of an extensive multi-year project of research and cosmetic architectural treatments utilizing extensive documentary evidence, paint analysis and other information to recover the room’s multilayered history and appearance.
The nearly life-size portrait of Lafayette retains pride of place, while the distinctive wallpaper and furnishings signal the room’s use as a bedchamber for Lafayette and the people from many walks of life – from international guests to family of the Washingtons.
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, was a French general, a celebrated hero of the American Revolution, abolitionist, and a beloved friend of George Washington. Excited and intrigued by the United States’ goal of establishing a republic, Lafayette traveled to America and became a Major General in the Continental Army. After the American War of Independence, he returned to France and participated in the early years of the French Revolution, even sending George Washington the key to the infamous Bastille prison.
Washington commissioned a portrait of Lafayette in 1779 to hang at Mount Vernon, and after the Revolution, Lafayette paid an extended visit to Mount Vernon in 1784.
The restoration of the Lafayette Room was supported by Karen M. and Jefferson W. Kirby; The Florence Gould Foundation; The Felicia Fund; the Estate of Paul and Sally Houdayer; Mr. and Mrs. S. Dillard Kirby; the George L. Shields Foundation, Inc.; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; an anonymous donor; and others from across the country.
Mount Vernon Unveils Newly Restored Lafayette Bedchamber
Mount Vernon President and CEO Doug Bradburn and French Ambassador Philippe Etienne flank Lafayette reenactor Thursday, Bastille Day, as the ribbon is cut on the newly renovated Lafayette Bedchamber at Mount Vernon.
