As a young woman growing up in Williamsburg Virginia, Martha Dandridge had lessons in sewing, housekeeping, cooking, dancing, and music. She also had private tutors to teach her how to read and write. Martha liked her private life and enjoyed being at Mount Vernon with her family.

Even when she couldn't be there or when her husband was away, she was, "... still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."

George Washington, too, loved being at Mount Vernon. He enjoyed farming and wrote that "it is honorable, it is amusing, and, with superior judgment, it is profitable." He believed Mount Vernon was the best estate in America for farming. Later in his life, he took great pride in being thought of as the first farmer of the land.