While many Americans celebrated Independence Day this year at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia, they didn’t get to see the presidential home in its entirety. That’s because a major restoration project is underway at the historic site in preparation for America’s 250th Birthday next year.
“We consider the work that we’re doing now as kind of getting ready, and ultimately it’ll be a birthday present to America,” Julie Almacy, vice president, media and communications at Mount Vernon told WTOP.
The $40 million renovation project began in early 2024 with the closure of the mansion’s New Room. Now, it is one of the only rooms open to visitors as crews add massive upgrades to the mansion, including a new HVAC system and large steel beams to bolster the home’s framing.
“We’re fixing the fixes of the last 150 years, and some of the things that were put in during the early 20th century have unintentionally created more problems within the mansion,” said Almacy.
The entire restoration project is expected to wrap up in early 2026, before the nation’s semiquincentennial. That’s when Mount Vernon will open the mansion’s cellar to the public for the first time.
“We will ultimately have that cellar space looking like it did during George Washington’s time,” Almacy said. “There is a kitchen down there. We have since learned there’s documentation of an enslaved family living in the mansion, and they lived down in that kitchen space.”
An exhibit at the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center is also getting a major facelift for the 250th.
“It was created in 2006. We have demolished it, and we are in the middle of creating a brand new George Washington exhibition,” Almacy added.
The exhibition, scheduled to open next spring, will be called “George Washington: A Revolutionary Life” and promises to tell Washington’s stories in new ways.
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