Object Details
Former owner
Mason, George, 1725-1792
Hertle, Louis
Architect
Buckland, William, 1734-1774
Landscape architect
Hopkins, Alden
Restoration architect
Kimball, Fiske, 1888-1955
Collection Compiler
Weller, Eleanor
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Eleanor Weller Reade collection.
sova.aag.ecw_ref5767
General
Caption on verso. Postcard published by Kolorvue by Artvue Post Card Co., New York, N.Y.
George Mason built Gunston Hall between 1753 and 1755. The house and gardens remained in the Mason family until the 1860s. After the Civil War ended, owners worked to restore the house and gardens which were destroyed by troops. Louis Hertle added a perola, rose garden with hybrid tea roses, and a reflecting pool. By 1934, nothing remained of the eighteenth-century garden except for the box hedge. When the Garden Club of Virginia took over the garden restoration, the pools, fountains, figures, summer house, roses, and flowering cherry trees were removed. Four parterres along the boxwood walk were planted in dwarf box. Also, two Chinese Chippendale gazebos were built on the outer corners of the lower terrace. The gardens and museum are open to the public.
Persons associated with the property include: George Mason (former owner, 1755-1792); General Robert Gibson Smith or Colonel Edward Daniels (former owner, ca. 1870); Jospeh Specht (former owner); Paul Kester (former owner, 1907-1913); Louis Hertle (former owner, 1913-1949); Commonwealth of Virginia (owner); William Buckland (architect, ca. 1753); National Society of Colonial Dames (caretakers, 1932-present); Alden Hopkins (landscape designer, ca. 1950); Glenn Brown (architect for restorations of house and grounds, ca. 1912); Garden Club of Virginia (garden designers); William and Harvey Nursery (transplanting box, 1952); and Thurman Bushrod (gardener).
Place
Gunston Hall (Mason Neck, Virginia)
United States of America -- Virginia -- Fairfax County -- Mason Neck
Topic
Gardens -- Virginia -- Mason Neck
Former owner
Mason, George, 1725-1792
Hertle, Louis
Architect
Buckland, William, 1734-1774
Landscape architect
Hopkins, Alden
Restoration architect
Kimball, Fiske, 1888-1955
See more items in
Eleanor Weller collection
Eleanor Weller collection / Postcards / United States / ECW056: Virginia
Extent
2 Lantern slides
Archival Repository
Archives of American Gardens
Identifier
AAG.ECW, Item ECW056004
Type
Archival materials
Lantern slides
Photographic postcards
Collection Rights
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Bibliography
Garden has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens America's Gardens (New York: Meredith Press, 1964). Garden has been featured in Garden Club of Virginia, Historic Virginia Gardens: Preservations (The University Press of Virginia, 1975). Garden has been featured in James M. Fitch & F. F. Rockwell, Treasury of American Gardens (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956), p. 10. Garden has been featured in Brandon, Homes and Gardens in Old Virginia (Richmond, Virginia: Garrett and Massie, Incorporated, 1962), pp. 47-50. Garden has been featured in Alice B. Lockwood, ed., Gardens of Colony and State (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934), pp. 65-68. Garden has been featured in Edith Tunis Sale, ed., Manors of Virginia (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1909), pp. 92-103. Garden has been featured in Eleanor Hertle, "Gunston Hall," in Edith Tunis Sale, ed., The James River Garden Club, comp., Historic Gardens of Virginia (Richmond, Virginia: The William Byrd Press, INC., 1930), pp. 156-160. Garden has been featured in Peter Martin, The Pleasre Gardens of Virginia: From Jamestown to Jefferson (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press), pp. 123-126. Garden featured in Pamela Sparrow Williamson, "The Restoration of the Garden at Gunston Hall," address before The Pennsylvania Society of The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Philadelphia, April 16, 1969 (Commonwealth of Virginia: The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, 1969).
Genre/Form
Photographic postcards
Collection Restrictions
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
AAG.ECW_ref5767
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb61e54d96d-f3e9-44c2-a35d-132667597edb
AAG.ECW
AAG
Record ID
ebl-1759780200629-1759780228191-1