Mount Vernon Will Be Shuttered Until 2026

George Washington's home on the Potomac River has been transformed into a construction zone. As of Nov. 1, Mount Vernon will be largely closed to the public amid its largest-scale renovation in more than 150 years, at a cost of $30 million. The 290-year-old mansion is in rough shape, having come loose from its foundation. "Essentially, the mansion was sitting on termite shields," Douglas Bradburn, president and CEO of Mount Vernon, tells the Washington Post, noting "lateral winds could knock it off its foundation." Though the grounds, Washington's tomb, and the living quarters of enslaved people will remain open to the public, two-thirds of the house will be closed off until 2026 amid the next phase of the restoration project that began last year.

Visitors this month have been treated to workers in hard hats and "the sound of hammers, drills and the beeping of construction equipment," the Post reports. Over the coming months, the house will be reattached to the foundation with new sills made from Mount Vernon's oak trees and salvaged 18th-century oak; crumbling stone walls will be re-created with the same kind of Aquia sandstone initially used; floorboards will be cleaned and replaced; and the basement will be restored to appear as it did when the enslaved Lee family lived there, the Post reports. "It's some of the most important work that's ever been done at Mount Vernon," Bradburn tells the outlet.

"This is a 300-year-old wooden house that was never intended to last 300 years, was never intended to have a million people a year going through," says Susan Schoelwer, executive director of the estate's Historic Preservation and Collections, per WTOP. The original building was constructed for Washington's father in 1734. It was greatly expanded with the labor of enslaved people under Washington, but it fell into disrepair following his 1799 death. In 1860, the estate was sold to a group of women who'd raised $200,000 for the purchase. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union still owns the property, now expanded to 200 acres. The hope is to have it in top shape in time for the nation's 250th birthday in July 2026, WTOP reports. You can see what the interior looks like currently via Country Life. (More Mount Vernon stories.)