Truly Divine Design
Though it looks small, George Mason's home is quite spacious inside. One of my favourite features was the beautiful center passage or hallway; the front and back doors are, as was common in this style of home, directly across from each other. When both doors were opened, not only was the broad center hallway between the doors cooled, fresh, cool air circulated through the other rooms in the house as well. Functionality aside, though, it is a lovely thing, the main hall.
By the way, Mason, his architect, and his groundsmen did a divine job of designing the home in coordination with the grounds. For one thing, the house was meant to stand alone, with no mature trees growing near it; according to the website, "Mason meant it to be seen standing isolated in space". The black-heart cherry tree-lined drive lead your eyes to the home along a twelve-foot-wide carriage drive; the Palladian portico you see is also twelve feet wide, as is Gunston Hall's aforementioned center passage. The rear, riverfront portico is twelve feet wide, as is the gravel path through the center of the rear garden leading toward the south and the Potomac river. The effect is quite beautiful.
The small building you see on the left side of the frame is the kitchen. The location was interesting to me, because to get to the dining room, slaves would bring the food into the hallway from the kitchen yard (there is a door and hallway leading from the center passage to the kitchen yard), past the Mr. and Mrs. Mason's bedroom on one side and the informal family dining/sitting room on the other, across the great hall, and into the dining room. Weird.
Truly Divine Design
Though it looks small, George Mason's home is quite spacious inside. One of my favourite features was the beautiful center passage or hallway; the front and back doors are, as was common in this style of home, directly across from each other. When both doors were opened, not only was the broad center hallway between the doors cooled, fresh, cool air circulated through the other rooms in the house as well. Functionality aside, though, it is a lovely thing, the main hall.
By the way, Mason, his architect, and his groundsmen did a divine job of designing the home in coordination with the grounds. For one thing, the house was meant to stand alone, with no mature trees growing near it; according to the website, "Mason meant it to be seen standing isolated in space". The black-heart cherry tree-lined drive lead your eyes to the home along a twelve-foot-wide carriage drive; the Palladian portico you see is also twelve feet wide, as is Gunston Hall's aforementioned center passage. The rear, riverfront portico is twelve feet wide, as is the gravel path through the center of the rear garden leading toward the south and the Potomac river. The effect is quite beautiful.
The small building you see on the left side of the frame is the kitchen. The location was interesting to me, because to get to the dining room, slaves would bring the food into the hallway from the kitchen yard (there is a door and hallway leading from the center passage to the kitchen yard), past the Mr. and Mrs. Mason's bedroom on one side and the informal family dining/sitting room on the other, across the great hall, and into the dining room. Weird.