Collingwood consists of a historic mansion set on approximately 8.7 acres fronting the Potomac River and the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Alexandria, VA. The property was purchased by George Washington in 1760 and made a part of his River Farm, the largest of the five working farms all of which were a part of his Mount Vernon estate. In 1792, a modest farmhouse was built as a residence for overseer, Samuel Johnson and his family. As the years passed, there were at least three major additions to the house. The house served as a restaurant in the middle of the 20th century.
Today the house and grounds are the Collingwood Library and Museum on Americanism and is used as a retreat, conference and event center. This quiet, pastoral and stunning cloistered setting draws organizations from the Northern Virginia area for retreats, conferences, weddings and receptions as well as community events.
The Collingwood Library and Museum has amassed over 4500 volumes of non-fiction books relating to American history and culture and over 19,000 volumes on microfiche. Its main goal is to promote American history. Collingwood is primarily dependent upon contributions from the public and income from third party events.
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