Skip to main content

Mount Vernon Blog

Shaping Stone Blocks

Wednesday, October 02, 2024

Stone shaping

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 ...


Read more

Dating the New Room’s Summer Beam

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Summer beam inspection

The Mansion Revitalization Project continues to uncover fascinating layers of history. One area of focus has been replacing key structural elements, such as the summer beams in George Washington's New Room. These beams, significant framing components, offer insight into the evolving history of the Mansion while also presenting unique preservatio...


Read more

Temporary Paving Stone Removal

Friday, August 23, 2024

Paving stone removal

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.


Read more

Masonry Work in the Cellar

Monday, August 05, 2024

Masons remove concrete

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...


Read more

Creating a 3D Model of the New Room Floor

Monday, July 08, 2024

New Room floor photogrammetry

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 ...


Read more

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...


Read more

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...


Read more

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...


Read more

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 ...


Read more

A Missing Lid

Thursday, May 02, 2024

In the world of archaeology, every artifact has a story to tell. Ahead of the Mansion Revitalization Project, Mount Vernon archaeologists excavated the area north of the Mansion. While examining a ceramic fragment excavated near the north end of the piazza, archaeological lab analysts Angela Bailey and Alice Keith identified it as a lid from the...


Read more