$12.00 Summer Picnic Member Ticket
$15.00 after 11:45 pm August 5

Please join APT DC at our rescheduled summer picnic at historic Gunston Hall in Mason Neck, Virginia on Saturday, August 18th, 2012!

Gunston Hall is the home of George Mason IV, one of our most influential Founding Fathers. His house was constructed from 1755-59 and was originally surrounded by a 5,500 acre plantation. Today there are 550 acres of grounds maintained by the Colonial Dames of America.

Acting Director Mark Whatford will welcome us and provide docents for architectural tours of the house, as well as archeology and landscape tours. In addition, archival documents related to restoration campaigns will be available for viewing.

House Tour - We will tour this mid-eighteenth century Georgian architectural gem, built by William Buckland and William Bernard Sears. The tour will include the eclectic interior with French Modern, Gothic, and Chinese influences, and period furnishings. (Offered all day on the half hour.)

Architecture Tour - Complimenting the House Tour, this tour will offer a more in-depth discussion of the architecture elements of the house.

Archeology/Landscape Tour - Gunston Hall still retains a historic cultural landscape of a colonial plantation. We will visit the family cemetery framed by an allee of cedar trees. Plantings include 250 year-old boxwoods along gravel paths that George Mason once walked. Guided by Staff Archeologist David Shonyo.

Archives - Archivist Mark Whatford will show off archival documents related to restoration campaigns, as well as other prized possessions of the Gunston Hall Archives.

Gunston Hall is also looking for a volunteer to document our 18th?/19th century barn beams from the original barn on the site taken down in 1951.

Schedule of Events:

11:30-4:00 - House tours on the half hour

12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch

1:00 or 2:30 - Archeology/Landscape tour

1:00 or 2:30 - Architecture tour

1:00-4:00 - Archives open

Lunch:

Picnic-goers are asked to bring a favorite meal item, salad, chips, non-alcoholic drinks, dessert, etc (please limit to 6-8 people so we don't have too many leftovers!).  APT DC will supply paper goods and bottled water.  A week prior to the event, we may try to rearrange some food items so as to avoid too many repeats.

Registration:

*  For those of you who had registered for the June 30th picnic and plan to attend the August 18th picnic, please send us an email and we will get you registered.

*  For those of you who had registered for the June 30th picnic and cannot attend the August 18th picnic, please send us an email and we will refund your registration as quickly as possible.

*  For those who did not register for the June 30th picnic, please register for the August 18th picnic by clicking the 'register' button to the left, or through our website:

If registering early, by 11:45pm on Sunday, August 5^th, the prices are as follows:

$12.00 Member Ticket

$15.00 Non-Member/Guest Ticket

If registering late, between 11:46pm, Sunday, August 5^th and 12 noon on August 17th, the prices are as follows:

$15.00 Member Ticket

$20.00 Non-Member/Guest Ticket

Attendance is capped at 50 guests, so remember to register early!!