Time-Lapse Video: Bottle Excavation
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
This spring, Mount Vernon made national headlines during the Mansion Revitalization Project when its team of archaeologists unearthed 35 glass bottles, mostly containing preserved cherries.Learn MoreBelow, watch a time-lapse video documenting the excavation of the first two bottles. Photos were taken every 30 seconds as the team carefully remove...
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Shaping Stone Blocks
Wednesday, October 02, 2024
As part of Mount Vernon’s ongoing Mansion Revitalization Project, masons from Dominion Traditional Builders are helping to restore the cellar’s passage walls. Their work is a vital step in preserving George Washington’s home and ensuring that future generations can experience the Mansion as closely as possible to how it appeared in Washington’s ...
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Dating the New Room’s Summer Beam
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
The Mansion Revitalization Project continues to uncover fascinating layers of history. One area of focus has been addressing key structural elements, such as the one in-situ summer beam in George Washington's New Room. The summer beam, a critical framing component, offers insight into the evolving history of the Mansion while also presenting a u...
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Temporary Paving Stone Removal
Friday, August 23, 2024
During the ongoing Mansion Revitalization Project, significant work has been undertaken to remove paving stones outside the New Room and on the piazza—a crucial step in ensuring the long-term preservation and stability of Washington's beloved home.
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Masonry Work in the Cellar
Monday, August 05, 2024
A significant aspect of the Mansion Revitalization Project involves repairing sections of the Mansion’s masonry. The brick and stone foundation walls and chimney bases in the cellar provide the strong underpinning upon which the Mansion stands. As with the home’s framing, some necessary interventions in past decades, using "modern" materials, ha...
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Creating a 3D Model of the New Room Floor
Monday, July 08, 2024
A major task of the Mansion Revitalization Project involves repairing sections of the Mansion’s framing, necessitating the temporary removal of the original 18th-century floorboards in the Mansion’s New Room.But before the first floorboard was lifted, the Preservation team undertook the critical step of documenting the floor's condition using a ...
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Preparing the New Room
Friday, June 14, 2024
Following the de-installation of the New Room, during which Mount Vernon’s Fine and Decorative Arts Collections team removed the room’s objects for safe storage, the next step was to prepare the space for the following phase of the Mansion Revitalization Project— removing the mopboards and floorboards in order to access and repair the home's fra...
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Pipe Fragment Discovered
Friday, May 24, 2024
Have you ever found crystals growing inside a rock? Sometimes, bricks hold hidden surprises, too. This brick was removed from the brick flooring next to the dry well in the Mansion cellar during recent archaeological excavations ahead of the Mansion Revitalization Project. The brick had broken apart, revealing a large fragment of tobacco pipe bo...
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Mortar Analysis
Thursday, May 23, 2024
One of the many types of analysis undertaken by Mount Vernon conservators is mortar analysis, using mortar samples like the one seen above. By breaking down the components of a mortar sample, mortar analysis helps staff identify approximate dating, material types and ratios used in creation, and geographic sources. This information also helps th...
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North Siding Removal
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
As part of the Mansion Revitalization Project, Mount Vernon’s Preservation team spent several days removing the lower courses of siding on the Mansion’s north end. This was a slow, delicate process, as the vast majority of the Mansion’s siding is original to the 18th century. Removal of the north siding allowed Mount Vernon’s Preservation staff ...
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