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| Gunston Hal |
Mason was instrumental in helping nurture the seeds of early American government. His writing of the Virginia Declaration of Rights was a pivotal document which influenced Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the U.S. Bill of Rights.
I'd been to Gunston Hall at least twice before and heard they were currently fixing the roof and during the renovations were allowing photos to be taken inside of the house since the furniture was removed. So I jumped at the chance to do this, as the inside is gorgeous.
The house's architecture is Georgian style and was constructed during the time frame of 1755-1759; the family had moved into the new home in 1760. What is amazing about Gunston Hall is that much of the original walls and flooring are still intact and in fantastic condition. It is impressive because everything is symmetrically designed in its architecture. The detail and care that went into building this home are amazing.
On the first floor are four rooms, the parlor (formal), formal dining room, a smaller parlor and master bedroom; there is also the main hallway, which is a large room in itself.
Gunston Hall's formal dining room (also known as the "Palladian Room") deserves a special mention because of the intricate and very beautifully detailed carvings built into this room. The beauty of the craftsmanship is incredible, considering the lack of technology in the 18th century. In the 1750s it must have taken a painstakingly long time to create and carve the ornamental details to the perfection. My photo truly doesn't do this room justice. (The stands in the picture show visitors what the room looks like when it's furnished - on the left- and also what a subsequent owner changed before it was restored back to Mason's time - on the right).
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| Formal dining room at Gunston Hall, known as the "Palladium Room". |
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| Door leading from the Palladian Room to the formal parlor. The details are amazing and, if memory serves, the handles and locks are on these doors are original. |
The formal parlor is inspired by Chinese design, originally placed by George Mason, but subsequent owners did keep the overall theme, despite changes that had been made. Today the room has been restored to how Mason would have designed the room; it is referred to as the "Chinese Room". While fashionable in Great Britain during the 18th century, this is the only home known in Colonial America to include this woodwork design.
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| Standing in the doorway looking into the formal parlor at Gunston Hall, also known as the "Chinese Room". |
The smaller parlor, which is more aligned what would be considered a "family room" in modern times, is where the Masons ate their meals when company was not present. Mason also used this room to conduct business. Still beautiful, but not nearly as fancy.
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| The informal parlor at Gunston Hall which served as a dining area, office and "family" room |
Towards the front of the house, you find the master bedroom, which you can see is painted a vibrant green. From visits to other historic homes in the area, I learned bright colors were common in that era amongst the affluent as it was a sign of wealth.
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| View of one of the closets in the master bedroom. There are two and this one has been left untouched. |
The second floor contained the rest of the bedrooms and there are many. This central corridor is the gateway to these rooms. What's unusual is that most homes of this era had second floors that mimicked the first floor, but not Gunston Hall. The layout upstairs is quite different than the lower level. It was described as "dormitory" style, and it really is.
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| Hallway on the second floor of Gunston Hall |
The upstairs rooms are quite plain (in comparison to the first floor) except the ornate staircase which can be seen from the lower floor. As you head back downstairs, you take a beautiful stairway that leads you back down to the first floor.
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| Entry to the grand staircase from the second floor |
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| Looking up at the carvings on the staircase from the first floor |
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| Another view of the staircase |
The tour guides are very knowledgeable, to date, I've been on several tours of this property and found each one to be fantastic and I always learn something new about the history of George Mason and the house itself.
If you are visiting Washington DC, Gunston Hall is only a 20-mile drive south conveniently located off Route 1 and I-95 (about 4.5 miles in off Route 1), just beyond other remarkable landmarks such as Mount Vernon, Fort Belvoir, Pope-Leighey Home and Woodlawn Plantation. When visiting this region you have many wonderful options of historical places to visit, all within a handful of miles to one another. I found Gunston Hall to be a memorable experience and learn something new on each visit.
**Excerpts of this post were taken from my original post about visiting Gunston Hall. The earlier post contains more information about visiting this historic landmark with additional descriptions and photos.
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You are absolutely correct, I really do need to stop and visit this.
ReplyDeleteI think you'd love it! Both the history and the house itself. There are some events in the fall also on their calendar.
ReplyDelete