On the brow of the steep hillside, south of the Mansion, overlooking the river, is the summer house. It commands a beautiful view of the broad Potomac, with the Maryland hills beyond, and doubtless was a favorite resort in “ye olden time.” It was restored in 1886, the funds being raised by the Vice-Regent for Louisiana, Mrs. Ida A. Richardson, through the school children of her State. The deep cellar under the summer house was intended for an ice house, but it is believed to have been abandoned as such when another was constructed in a more convenient locality north of the Mansion.

The wooded slope below the summer house was utilized by Washington for his deer paddock, which was restored and stocked with Virginia deer, in 1887, by the sons of the late Mrs. Robert Campbell, Vice-Regent for Missouri.

Telescope