Access For ALL at Gunston Hall
Giving Tuesday
At Gunston Hall we are committed to creating an equitable and accessible environment for ALL. And, yet much too often we have students who miss out on the full Gunston Hall field trip experience due to vision, hearing or mobility challenges. These kids cannot see the intricacies of the mansion architecture, cannot hear the stories of the Mason family and indentured servants who lived and worked here, cannot climb to the second story, and cannot fully participate in the discussions about George Mason’s legacy alongside their classmates. Adult visitors with sight, hearing and mobility impairments also experience a dimensioned mansion tour experience.
Gunston Hall has finally said ENOUGH! It’s time to give Access for ALL at Gunston Hall!
To ensure Access for ALL, the Education Team has identified accessibility tools that will improve access to George Mason’s historic 18th-century Mansion for visitors with hearing, vision, and/or mobility challenges. By adding these tools, we will be able to offer exceptional tour experiences for everyone.
That’s why we are inviting YOU to join our 2026 Giving Tuesday campaign: Access for ALL at Gunston Hall! Please consider making a Giving Tuesday donation on December 1 to improve access for every visitor.
The first $500 raised will purchase a dedicated Mansion tour tablet/case/charger for guests who are hard of hearing, deaf, or do not fluently speak English. This tablet will also house photos and videos of the second floor of the mansion for visitors who cannot climb stairs, but who still want to experience the upper level of the historic house.
The tablet will feature the Ava and Connect apps to provide transcriptions and tour narration helping visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing to engage more fully with the tour. The apps are $30/month so a single donation of $360 or 12 donations of $30 will cover a one-year subscription.
Due to the historic nature of Gunston Hall, visitors are asked not to touch doors, walls or any of the furniture inside of the house. This limits the full experience for visually impaired guests as well as those with mobility issues. Therefore, Gunston Hall is seeking a tactile 3-D printed floor plan of the historic mansion to improve access to the information shared on a tour and increase understanding of the spaces George Mason, his family, indentured servants, and enslaved workers inhabited. Each 3-D floorplan will provide a better sense of the mansion, the locations of the rooms, doors, windows, fireplaces, and other key parts of the architecture. Each floorplan and protective case cost $3000. We need 60 donors to give $100 each to afford both 3-D floorplans.
We want Access for ALL at Gunston Hall so everyone can learn, explore and enjoy this National Historic Landmark and home of Founding Father George Mason. Please help make this Giving Tuesday a success by making a gift! Thank you!
