Restoration Projects

Mount Vernon's Restoration team recently completed work on the Greenhouse Slave Quarters.  These wings on either side of the Greenhouse were originally built in 1793 and housed the slaves who worked at the Mansion House Farm, primarily craftspeople and those who worked in the Mansion.  The structure burned in 1835 and was reconstructed in 1950 with one of the four slave quarter rooms open to the public in 1962. 

The restoration transformed an additional room into interpreted space so now visitors can see a room housing women and children and a second housing males.  A highlight of the restored slave quarters are the bunks  which have been reinterpreted to better reflect our understanding of what Washington referred to as "births" or the beds in the quarter.  Among the new furnishings are colonware bowls, a type of earthenware commonly found at slave quarter sites and these are reproduced from fragments found in the South Grove Midden.

There is also a small exhibit on the history of the site, slavery at Mount Vernon and artifacts excavated from the House for Families slave quarter and the Blacksmith's Shop.