George Washington’s connection with agriculture stemmed from “his own needs to earn a living.” The first U.S. president used his 18th century estate in Virginia, Mount Vernon, as a testing ground for horticultural practices. More than 300 enslaved people, mostly women, toiled on the 500-acre property, many as field laborers.
Today, the estate is managed by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA), a nonprofit, and is home to Washington’s historic manor designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the George Washington Presidential Library (by Ayers Saint Gross), as well as gardens, tombs, an active farm, a distillery, and a gristmill.
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) has been tasked with ideating a masterplan for the estate that draws connections between the house, its landscape, and its agricultural ingenuity.
The landscape plan is happening on the heels of a $40 million renovation of the historic manor at Mount Vernon that MCWB Architects completed with MVLA in 2025.
The masterplan by NBW will prioritize enhancing the estate’s “250-year-old trees, soils, drainage systems, circulation networks, viewsheds, agricultural fields, and visitor infrastructure,” the firm said.
“Mount Vernon is one of the most important cultural landscapes in the United States,” Thomas Woltz, NBW owner and senior principal, said in a statement. “We are partnering with the MVLA to develop a long-term framework that respects the estate’s layered history, while strengthening its ecological resilience and visitor experience.”
“George Washington’s deep engagement with agriculture and land stewardship makes this project uniquely meaningful, and we look forward to contributing to the thoughtful stewardship of this historic landscape,” Woltz elaborated.
Beyer Blinder Belle will provide historic preservation and architectural services, and Nitsch Engineering civil and stormwater engineering services. Linnaea Tillett Lighting Design Associates and ETM Associates are also on the project team.
Jonathan Kavalier, Mount Vernon’s newly appointed executive director of Gardens & Landscapes, will work closely with NBW on the project. Kavalier said the landscape plan is about “advancing ecological resilience and thoughtful stewardship” at the compound.
