Washington Winter Show 2016

49 This page is sponsored by Linda Bogaczyk, Marjorie Hulgrave and Heather Nolan in honor of The Founders Board of St. John's Community Services 1. Wallace Nutting, Virginia Beautiful (Garden City, NY, 1930), 216. 2. Helen Hill Miller, George Mason of Gunston Hall (Lorton, VA, 1958), 8. 3. Virginius Dabney, Virginia: The New Dominion (New York, NY, 1971), 136. 4. Quoted in Miller, George Mason, 41. 5. Jeff Broadwater, George Mason: Forgotten Founder (Chapel Hill, NC, 2006), 5. 6. Ibid., 5–6. 7. Terry K. Dunn, ed., The Recollections of John Mason (Mason Neck, VA, 2012), 58–59. 8. Ibid., 55. 9. Gunston Hall: Home of George Mason [guidebook] (Mason Neck, VA, 2012), 10–11; Miller, George Mason, 333. 10. Dunn, Recollections, 9. Lucie Stephens Holland is a former Gunston Hall Regent-at-Large from Virginia. Rebecca Martin is the Director of Education and Guest Experiences at Gunston Hall. She received her MA in History and Museum Studies from the University of Delaware and has worked as a museum educator for 20 years. and possessing Property; and pursueing and obtaining Happiness and Safety.” On October 7, 1792, George Mason died at home among family and was buried in the graveyard near his house. Gunston Hall remained in the Mason family until 1867. The last private owners, Louis and Eleanor Hertle, presented the historic property to the Commonwealth of Virginia with the provision that it be open to the public and administered by a Board of Regents from The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA). Today, furnished much as it was during George Mason’s mature years, Gunston Hall allows people to step back in time to enjoy the beauty of his home and to contemplate the ideas that he first articulated in the Virginia Declaration of Rights. The NSCDA preserves, interprets, and promotes Gunston Hall in order to stimulate continuing public exploration of the democratic ideals George Mason championed. In 2016, the NSCDA is proud to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the ratification of George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights.  ✯ Figure 12: Creamware sauce boat, ca. 1770–1800 (detail of handle). Figure 13: Fan-back Windsor side chair, c. 1785–1795. Windsor chairs often served as outdoor furniture in the 18th century. Spending time in the garden, lost in contemplation, was a favorite pastime of George Mason.