Historic preservation and collections:in 2021, the architecture team completed paint removal, repairs, documentation, painting, and sand-casting of the mansion's north and south endsthe second phase of a three-phase project. On both ends, the team found samples of original paint, further corroborating the stone color of the original exterior. In addition, the south end restoration revealed evidence that the two windows of the washingtons' bedchamber had been raised slightly when bushrod washington added a two-story porch in the early 19th century; these were carefully restored and returned to their original locations, complete with precise reproductions of the original wooden sash pullies. The association was afforded an extraordinary opportunity to purchase the largest collection of george and martha washington owned objects remaining in private hands. At a trying moment, many of mount vernon's closest friends rallied together to secure this landmark acquisition. Nearly 100 objects in this collection represent a remarkable array of treasured possessions, from jewelry and clothing to presidential porcelains and fragile glassware. The assemblage comes to mount vernon with impeccable provenance, descending to the seller through the peter family of tudor place in georgetown. Martha parke custis peter, martha washington's granddaughter, and her husband, thomas peter, acquired most of the objects either as gifts from the washingtons or at a series of sales after mrs. Washington's death.Mount vernon acquired a ground penetrating radar unit (gpr), a digital technology that allows archaeologists to "see" sub-surface features without disturbing them. Initial gpr surveys have revealed a wealth of new information about the cultural landscapeincluding an extensive network of drains that conveyed rainwater from the mansion downspouts to the dung repository, ingeniously supporting the production of compost. Notable findings of in-ground surveys include a 1775 george III half-penny and a fragmentary 1713 john custis wine sealpresumably from a bottle brought here by martha dandridge custis when she arrived as a bride in 1759.

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