Our Museum Houses

Mount Clare is a 1760 colonial Georgian home built by one of Maryland’s leading patriots and one of our first state senators, Charles Carroll, Barrister. Mount Clare was the center of Georgia Plantation, a self-sufficient plantation with a diverse community. Because of its exceptional value in interpreting our rich national heritage, Mount Clare was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

Dumbarton House, built 1799, is regarded as one of the finest examples of Federal period architecture in the United States. This stately brick home exhibits several characteristics associated with Federal architecture, such as exterior and interior symmetry, as well as classical motifs which were pervasive throughout the Federal period. The house is interpreted to the period from 1804 to 1813.

Gunston Hall, built circa 1755-59, was the plantation home of George Mason, founding father and principal author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. His call for freedom of the press, tolerance of religion, and other individual rights inspired many seminal freedom documents worldwide, including the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Bill of Rights, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Sulgrave Manor is a superb example of a 16th century Manor House and Garden. It was built by Lawrence Washington, direct ancestor of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. In 1914, Sulgrave Manor was presented by a body of British subscribers to the Peoples of Great Britain and the United States, in celebration of the Hundred Years of Peace between the two.