George Washington’s connection with farming stemmed from “his own needs to earn money.” The very first U.S. president utilized his 18th century estate in Virginia, Mount Vernon, as a testing room for horticultural practices. More than 300 enslaved individuals, primarily females, toiled on the 500-acre property, lots of as field workers.
Today, the estate is managed by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA), a nonprofit, and is home to Washington’s historical manor developed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the George Washington Presidential Library (by Ayers Saint Gross), as well as gardens, burial places, an active farm, a distillery, and a gristmill.
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) has been charged with ideating a masterplan for the estate that draws connections between your house, its landscape, and its agricultural ingenuity.
The landscape strategy is taking place on the heels of a $40 million restoration of the historic manor at Mount Vernon that MCWB Architects completed with MVLA in 2025.