Visitors at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate will have to wait until this December to see the founding father’s fully renovated mansion.
Since January 2024, the mansion in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County has undergone a comprehensive renovation, leaving large sections unavailable for the public.
While living 10 miles from the City of Alexandria at Mount Vernon, Washington owned a townhouse in Old Town, attended Christ Church, and got medicine from the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary.
An estimated 1 million people visit Mount Vernon annually, making it one of the most popular historic sites in the country.
Restoration of the building has been ongoing since 2019.
When the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA) took possession of George Washington’s home in 1860, it faced a monumental restoration challenge. Much of the Mansion was already a century old, and for nearly as long, it had been a site of pilgrimage for many visitors. The accumulated wear and tear of thousands of visits challenged the ability of the Washington heirs to maintain the house, leaving it “much dilapidated and out of repair,” according to one 1858 visitor. Supplemental timbers propped up the sagging piazza. It would take time, hard work, and significant funds to return the estate to its former glory.
Over the subsequent decades, the MVLA has meticulously restored the Mansion and surrounding outbuildings and, in the process, has turned Mount Vernon into a shining example of historic preservation. It is through these painstaking efforts that the Mansion exists today.
Now, after extensive investigation, assessment, research, planning, and design, Mount Vernon is taking proactive steps to ensure the health of the Mansion as it enters its fourth century
Below is a video on the scope of the mansion restoration project.
