Gunston Hall

In December we visited Dan's mother in Springfield, VA and took her to visit Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason.  Years ago my mother-in-law's grandmother lived on property near Gunston Hall and likely it was once part of that plantation.  We did find the site of that home, though the house is long gone.

Do you know who George Mason is?  He's credited with being the Father of the Bill of Rights - the first 10 amendments to our constitution.  At least that's what I remember from 12th grade Civics class.  What I learned from this visit was that even though he was involved with writing the Constitution, he didn't sign it because he felt there was too much power in the federal government, there was no bill of rights, and there was nothing included about ending the slave trade.

For more here's an interesting article in Smithsonian Magazine.

His home is on the Potomac River not far from Mount Vernon.

Below are outbuildings to the left side.

The entry Allee of trees.

We were a tour group of three so we had the undivided attention of the guide.

The front entry space in this style had multi-functions. Another front door is there beyond the stairs for guests arriving from the river side.

None of the furnishings were owned by the Masons but are replicas of the time period.   The wall colors are true to how it looked when the Masons lived here.

George Mason - I believe, one of the only paintings of him.

The upstairs was not what I expected.  Usually for this style you may have 4 large rooms.  Since the Masons had quite a few children there were 7 or 8 bedrooms up here. The nicest was for guests. 

The master bedroom was on the first floor and also served as Mrs. Mason's sitting room (sorry no photo).

Note the window overlooking the stairs?  The only window in that room.

Here is a recreation of the kitchen outbuilding.

The riverside view of the house.

Another outbuilding was a schoolroom for the Mason children.

The visitor center is under a major renovation that will be done this spring. For more information about visiting here's the website.