( Southern Living ) -- Mount Vernon is undergoing a renaissance . Today the site 's annual attendance matches its highest since 1976 . Why ? Visitors used to spend only an hour or so at his house , then leave still thinking of George Washington as that grim , old man on the dollar bill . Now , visitors meet him face-to-face in three life-sized statues , and they ca n't get enough of America 's first action hero . At the museum at Mount Vernon , the 45-year-old future president is depicted riding in Valley Forge . `` He 's tall ! He 's strong ! He 's handsome ! '' they may exclaim when seeing him for the first time . Today 's first President is a well-rounded figure at the expanded visitors center , museum , and education facility at Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens in Virginia . A new face for George . Washington now startles visitors . As they walk through the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center , one of three life-size models depicts him at age 19 , standing 6 ' 2 '' , with his auburn hair pulled back in a queue . He 's lean and lanky like an athlete , with muscular hips and thighs -- the marks of a man comfortable in the saddle . SouthernLiving.com : D.C. Travel Planner . `` He was the best horseman in America , '' James C. Rees , executive director of Mount Vernon , remarks . `` He was a great architect and landscape designer , and a terrific ball room dancer . '' Washington seems alive , except for breath itself . Step around another museum corner and he appears at 45 astride his horse in the snow at Valley Forge . Down another corridor he takes the oath of office at 57 . More than mere mannequins , these figures are based on forensic research . To piece the elements together , scientists sized Washington up with measurements of his breeches and waistcoat . They determined the jut of his jaw from his dentures . They analyzed locks of his hair to determine its color at various ages . Getting to know the man . Admirers esteem his intellect , compassion , and self-restraint . ( He was the only Founding Father to free his slaves . ) After winning the Revolutionary War , Washington could have crowned himself king . Instead of reigning , however , he resigned and went home . Visitors tour the home , stopping to marvel at the stately main hall and gliding their hands along the same banister that supported the likes of the Marquis de Lafayette . They crowd into upstairs halls to see bedrooms that hosted more than 700 guests each year in George and Martha 's time . SouthernLiving.com : Come Home to Virginia . Then they explore the estate with its 18th-century sights , sounds , and scents . The distillery and gristmill are now open , and a reconstructed slave structure tells the African American story . There 's more to come . This spring , bellows will breathe fire to life in the new blacksmith shop . Meanwhile , the orientation center and museum are close at hand yet hidden , tucked into the earth so they do n't interfere with the historic landscape . He who would not be king . It 's working . Washington is undergoing a renaissance . `` King George III told an associate that if Washington gave up all his power and went back to his farm , he would be the greatest man in the world , '' James remarks . `` That 's like the Dallas Cowboys coach saying something nice about the Redskins . '' Enter to win a monthly Room Makeover Giveaway from MyHomeIdeas.com . Copyright 2009 Southern Living magazine . All rights reserved .
Today Mount Vernon 's annual attendance matches its highest since 1976 . Three new life-size models depict George Washington at different ages . Visitors can explore the distillery , gristmill and a reconstructed slave structure .