George Mason’s Gunston Hall

Home of Founding Father and champion of American rights 

    Located in Northern Virginia

   Open daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day & first two weeks of January

   Save 20% on admission with the promo code VAHIST

Twenty minutes from George Washington’s Mount Vernon is the home of his neighbor and friend George Mason. 

Sometimes referred to as the Forgotten Founder, George Mason was an architect of the American Revolution and a leading proponent of both limiting government tyranny and protecting citizens’ rights.

As the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and Virginia Constitution, Mason had a profound influence on his own state and the constitutions of the other states that first formed our country. Thomas Jefferson paid homage to Mason by incorporating ideas and language from the Virginia Declaration of Rights into the Declaration of Independence, and James Madison drew heavily upon Mason's work for the U.S. Bill of Rights.

Can’t-Miss Activities

• Tour the historic Georgian mansion with its elegant and well-preserved mid-18th century interiors. Explore what they tell us about the lives of the Mason family, the people they enslaved, their indentured servants and tenant farmers.
  

• View the on-going restoration of the historic garden, its plantings and terraces. Don’t miss the views of the Potomac River.  
  

• Visit the exhibition Revolutionary Rights and connect with the ideas that define our country. Learn how founding father George Mason’s 1776 Virginia Declaration of the Rights influenced the Declaration of Independence, the US Bill of Rights and France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Examine the history and legacies of George Mason’s work.  
  

• Explore  550+ acres of natural beauty. Enjoy the picnic ground and  meadow benches. Hike a scenic River Trail to the Potomac River and follow the well-known Bluebird Trail.  
  

• Shop in the museum store, featuring souvenirs, books, seasonal goodies, and exhibition merchandise. The shop proudly carries locally-made Virginia products, including works of art by Virginia artisans.