Gunston Hall - The 1759 Home Of Patriot George Mason

Although not as famous as his friend, George Washington, Virginia patriot George Mason IV (1725-1792) authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights. It was eventually incorporated into the Virginia Constitution. For example, Article 1 read "That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."

Why is this of interest? Many of the guarantees of the document were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence and the US Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson referred to him as "a man of the first order of wisdom".

Gunston Hall had not been built when George assumed responsibility for the family's plantation, Mason Neck. He was 34 years old when it was completed in 1759. Aside from the 5,500 acres of Mason Neck, He owned other plantations. Some of which are now popular residential areas such as Hollin Hall and Woodbridge. One plantation, Mason's Island which is in the Potomac River has been renamed Theodore Roosevelt Island. For more information about the home and hours of operation see Gunston Hall