Mount Vernon, VA, August 2, 2024—The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association announced today that Dean Norton, Mount Vernon’s revered Director of Horticulture and Livestock, will retire at the end of the year after an extraordinary fifty-five year career.
Upon his retirement, Norton will receive the honorific title of Director of Horticulture and Livestock Emeritus, in recognition of his devoted service to George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. The Association is also compiling an oral history which will become part of its permanent archives.
Dean Norton at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Norton’s love for George Washington’s beautiful estate is vast. He is a renowned authority on garden history and a favorite ambassador for Mount Vernon, spreading the story of Washington and his estate to worldwide audiences.
Margaret Nichols, the 23rd Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, says, “For more than half a century, Dean Norton’s devotion and commitment to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association’s mission of preservation at the highest standards and educational outreach, can be seen throughout the estate. The beauty of the faithfully restored gardens and the meticulously preserved landscapes at Mount Vernon are the fruits of fifty-five years of his labor of love. Dean’s character, service and dedication reflect the best of Mount Vernon and George Washington.”
Mount Vernon’s President & CEO, Doug Bradburn, stated, “We are preparing to celebrate 250 years of America in 2026. Dean Norton has tended to George Washington’s beloved estate for more than one-fifth of that time. Because of his dedication, the beautiful landscapes of Mount Vernon will be admired and enjoyed by generations of guests to come.”
Norton, currently Mount Vernon’s longest-serving employee, began working at the estate on June 23, 1969. After receiving a degree in horticulture from Clemson University, he became Mount Vernon’s boxwood gardener. He was promoted to horticulturist in 1980 and has spent his career applying horticulture's latest plant science and management techniques in a historic setting. Throughout his career, Norton has devoted considerable time to researching 18th-century gardens and gardening practices.
For more than five decades, Dean has contributed to a wide range of historic and horticultural initiatives, including the research and restoration of Washington’s botanical garden, upper garden, bowling green, and fruit garden and nursery; the organization of the Mount Vernon garden symposiums; creation of the 2014 exhibition “Gardens and Groves: George Washington’s Landscapes at Mount Vernon,” and its accompanying publication, The General in the Garden; and, perhaps most daringly, the reintroduction of hemp cultivation. Most recently, he oversaw the construction of the Linda Mars Livestock Facility.
Read about the estate’s expansive gardens.
In addition to his notable work on the estate, Dean has lectured in three dozen states and abroad and given over 100 media interviews, including appearances on the Today Show and Good Morning America.
In April 2023, President Biden appointed Norton to The Committee for the Preservation of the White House. The Committee is primarily comprised of citizens appointed by the President for their experience in historic preservation, architecture, and decorative arts; it serves as an advisory committee charged with preserving the White House.
Over his long career, Norton has garnered an immense number of awards and accolades. In 1997, he was awarded the Friend of Education Award presented by the Northern Virginia Chapter Phi Delta Kappa. In 2020, Norton received the Garden Club of America’s prestigious Elizabeth Craig Weaver Proctor National Medal “for his dedication to exemplary preservation of historic landscapes and his commitment to sharing his horticulture expertise.” In 2006, he received the American Horticultural Society Professional Award. He served as president of the Southern Garden History Society and was the recipient of their highest award, the Flora Ann Bynum Medal. Norton also has also received numerous regional and local awards from the GCA and Daughters of the American Revolution. Dean is an honorary member of the Garden Club of Virginia and the Garden Club of Providence and received an honorary doctorate from Washington College. A proud alum of Clemson University, Norton serves on its University Historic Properties Committee and several historic property boards and lectures nationally and internationally. He has instructed courses at The George Washington University and the USDA Graduate School.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. The estate is open to visitors and includes the Mansion, a museum, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery, and a gristmill. It also includes the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. Learn more at mountvernon.org.
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