George Mason's Gunston Hall
10709 Gunston Rd, Lorton, VA 22079, USA
Virginia, USA
MUSEUM
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HOME
EST. 1759
EST. 1759
1759
Mason, George
Washington, George
HISTORIC PEOPLE WHO WERE HERE
2
HISTORIC PRESERVATION at George Mason's Gunston Hall.
George Mason’s original Georgian plantation house survives as a restored museum overlooking the Potomac River. The Commonwealth of Virginia and Colonial Dames preserve the furnished mansion, reconstructed outbuildings, gardens, archaeological sites, burial ground, trails, and remaining plantation landscape for public interpretation.
About George Mason's Gunston Hall
Built between 1755 and 1759 as the main residence and headquarters of a 5,500-acre plantation, the house was the home of the United States Founding Father George Mason. The home is located not far from George Washington's home. The interior of the house and its design was mostly the work of William Buckland, a carpenter/joiner and indentured servant from England. Buckland later went on to design several notable buildings in Virginia and Maryland. Both he and William Bernard Sears, another indentured servant, are believed to have created the ornate woodwork and interior carving.
HISTORY HAPPENED HERE at George Mason's Gunston Hall
George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including substantial portions of the Fairfax Resolves of 1774, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, and his Objections to this Constitution of Government (1787) opposing ratification, have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed a father.
The Masons came from Gunstone in South Staffordshire and like many others in that area supported the Crown during the 1642-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. After Royalist defeat at Worcester in 1651, Philip Mason I emigrated to Virginia, along with his cousin Gerard Fowke, whose family home was Gunstone Hall and which gave its name to George Mason's building.
In 1792, Thomas Jefferson visited Gunston Hall for the last time, attending George Mason's death bed. After Mason's death, the house remained in use as a private residence for many years.
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