page_title: Gunston Hall
section_title: Basement
hierarchical_section_title: Gunston Hall / Architecture / Basement
caption_attribution_description: Gunston Hall, photographed on February 2, 2014.
context_page_description: Gunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia, United States. The house was the home of the United States Founding Father George Mason. It was located at the center of a 5,500 acre plantation. The home is also located not far from George Washington's home. The construction period of Gunston Hall was between 1755 and 1759.
  The interior of the house and its design was mostly the work of William Buckland, a carpenter/joiner and indentured servant from England. Buckland later went on to design several notable buildings in Virginia and Maryland. Both he and William Bernard Sears, another indentured servant, are believed to have created the ornate woodwork and interior carving. Gunston's interior design combines elements of rococo, chinoiserie, and Gothic styles, an unusual contrast to the tendency for simple decoration in Virginia at this time. Although chinoiserie was popular in Britain, Gunston Hall is the only house known to have had this decoration in colonial America.
  In 1792, Thomas Jefferson went to Gunston Hall to attend George Mason's death bed;
context_section_description: Gunston Hall has a basement, which has a main passage and four rooms like the floor above it. Three staircases lead down to the basement. The basement contains four brick arched chimney supports, and nine small windows. In 1975, a cast iron stove was excavated from the basement. The style of the stove suggests it is from the 18th or early 19th century. Around 1986, a "shallow subsurface perimeter drainage system" was built about four feet (1.2 m) away from the foundation walls, due to an excess ground moisture. This significantly reduced standing water in the basement.
caption: Land front Porch
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 4S", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "7.0.4", "Image DateTime": "2014:02:02 13:23:55", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "192", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1034", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10752", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/736", "EXIF FNumber": "12/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:02:02 13:23:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:02:02 13:23:55", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "6352/667", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4845/1918", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "37990/4391", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "107/25", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "735", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "735", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2448", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "3", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[107/25, 107/25, 12/5, 12/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4"}