What’s “NEW” at Mount Vernon?
It’s a big year for Mount Vernon’s New Room (formerly known as the Large Dining Room) which is undergoing an intense 12 month restoration. This room was the last addition George Washington added to his mansion, and it’s been over 30 years since it was last cleaned and repainted.
According to the team working on this exciting project, the goal is not just to spruce up the room, but “…to apply the most recent scholarly and scientific discoveries about the room, its furnishings, and our understanding of the room’s function during Washington’s life.”
The New Room has undergone many transformations since Mount Vernon opened to the public in 1860 due to increased scholarship and understanding of the 18th century. We’ll be highlighting the project each month with updates from our restoration team of architectural historians, curators, and conservators about what they have discovered, and why certain decisions about the room’s appearance are being made. There have already been a few startling discoveries which you can read about on the New Room Renewed blog. If you are on Twitter, you can also follow along as the New Room (@MVNewRoom) tweets about its restoration in the first person!
For a glimpse into the New Room’s past, we’ve compiled a slide show of historic images dating back to 1850.
