Submitted by FHMaster on Sun, 12/18/2016 - 11:57

Gunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason NeckVirginia, United States. Built between 1755 and 1759 as the main residence and headquarters of a 5,500-acre (22 km²) Slave-labor farm, 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. Gunston's interior design combines elements of rococochinoiserie, and Gothic styles, an unusual contrast to the tendency for simple decoration in Virginia at this time. Although chinoiserie was popular in Britain, Gunston Hall is the only house known to have had this decoration in colonial America.

In 1792, Thomas Jefferson went to Gunston Hall to attend George Mason's death bed;  after his death later that year, the house remained in use as a private residence for many years. In 1868, it was purchased by noted abolitionist and civil war Colonel Edward Daniels. It is now a museum owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia and open to the public. The home and grounds were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 for their association with Mason.

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. One of his distant relatives was Lieutenant General Thomas Fowke (1690-1765), who fought at the Battle of Prestonpans during the 1745 Jacobite Rising.

 

Location
Lorton, near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia
State
GeoCoord
38°39′50″N 77°9′37″W
Owners
George Mason
Founded
1759
Status
Active
NRHP Ref Number
66000832