Washington Commanders Owner is Buyer of Mt. Vernon Mansion

Commander in Chief, meet the Chief of the Commanders.

The mystery owner of a Mount Vernon mansion built on land once owned by Founding Father George Washington is NFL team owner Dan Snyder, who plunked down $48 million in cash for the property back in November, according to the Washington Business Journal, making it the most expensive purchase in the D.C. area.

Snyder, who owns the newly christened Washington Commanders (formerly the Washington Football Team, and before that, something else), had long been rumored to be the buyer of the home with frontage on the Potamic River, and this week public records proved it. A $25,000 donation to Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin’s inaugural committee listed Snyder as the donor, the mansion as his home, and “Washington Football Team Owner” as his “business or employment information.”

The mansion sits on part of the original 1,800 acres the Father of our Country purchased in 1760 for £1,210, according to the American Horticultural Society, which also owns a separate portion of the original property. It stayed in Washington’s family until 1859 and has since changed hands four times, making Snyder its fifth owner. Washington died in 1797.

Built in 2014, the bright white American Federal-style mansion on the property features 13 bathrooms and a fitness center with an indoor pool and spa. The gardens on the grounds have been reimagined using original blueprints found on the property demanding traditional English boxwood hedges and pergolas.

Revolutionary-era comforts include seven bedrooms, a game room with a bar, several terraces, and, appropriately, a wood-paneled library. Most rooms have water views, according to a November Mansion Global report.

Snyder put his 30,000-square-foot Potomac mansion on the market in 2018 for $49 million, but that 18-Century French chateau-inspired home is yet to sell, according to the report.

[Washington Business Journal] — Vince DiMiceli