Gunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia, United States.

[4][5] Built between 1755[6] and 1759[7] by George Mason, a Founding Father, to be the main residence and headquarters of a 5,500-acre (22 km2) slave plantation.

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 rococo, chinoiserie, and Gothic styles, an unusual contrast to the tendency for simple decoration in Virginia at this time.

[10] In 1792, Thomas Jefferson visited Gunston Hall for the last time, attending George Mason's death bed.

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

[18] From 1868 to 1891, it was owned by Edward Daniels, a Virginia newspaper publisher and Reconstruction Era politician, who was a former Union cavalry officer and ardent abolitionist.

In 1912, it was bought by retired Marshall Field & Company executive, Louis Hertle, whose second wife, Eleanor Daughaday, was a member of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America.

In 1949, Hertle in his will gave the property to the Commonwealth of Virginia as a museum to be run by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America.

Pamela Cunningham Copeland, American horticulturist and historic preservationist, made a significant contribution to the restoration of Gunston Hall in her role as first regent of the Board of Regents of Gunston Hall for the National Society Colonial Dames of America.

On the northeast side of the central passage is the primary chamber (or bedroom) in the front, and the little parlor in the back.

Between the primary chamber and the little parlor is a smaller passage, leading to a service staircase and a small, side stairway.

The Gunston Hall Plantation official website says that on the southwest side of the house is a parlor in the front and a dining room in the back.

On either side of the fireplace are deep-shelved beaufats (niches) to store and display the tableware, with doors to secure valuable possessions.

The wall of the fireplace has a mantel decorated with fretwork, pagoda-like scalloped moldings, as well as canopies topped by pine cone finials.

During the 18th century, chinoese (Chinese-style) design was popular in Great Britain, however the Gunston Hall museum does not know of any other rooms in colonial America with this type of coordinated chinoiserie woodwork.

During Mason's lifetime, painted or decorated paper covered the thin pine paneling on the walls.

A narrow passage runs sideways through the upper level, leading to seven bedchambers and a storage room.

At the top of the main stairway is a tri-part arch with fluted pillars, separating the passageway from a small gallery overlooking the staircase.

[32] The front porch of Gunston Hall is William Buckland's "most individualistic design", according to Great Georgian Houses of America, as copied by the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The classical lines of the porch exactly follow those of a Roman medal of the Temple of Tyche in Eumeneia, Asia Minor, only engraved once.

The Gunston Hall museum website says that the view was more impressive during Mason's time, when the trees were cleared.

"[5] The museum shop sells souvenirs such as books, gift items, soap, food, and toys.

John Mason then moved to Clermont, a 320-acre (1.3 km2) property he had recently acquired, where he spent the rest of his life.

[41][42] Gunston Hall, home of George Mason, was commemorated on a 3-cent stamp for the 200th anniversary on June 12, 1958.

George Mason was author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which served as the basis of the first ten amendments to the Federal Constitution.