Hollin Hall is an 18th century plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 home on Little Hunting Creek

Little Hunting Creek

Little Hunting Creek is a primarily tidal tributary of the Potomac River located in Fairfax County, Virginia, USA, not to be confused with Hunting Creek farther north...

 three miles (5 km) southwest of Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

 in Fairfax County

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. George Mason

George Mason

George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...

, a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 founding father, gave Hollin Hall to his third son, Thomson Mason

Thomson Mason (1759–1820)

Thomson Mason was a prominent entrepreneur, planter, civil servant, and justice. Mason was the son of George Mason, an American patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention....

, through deeds of gift in 1781 and 1786. The land, as given, totalled 676 acres (2.7 km²). Thomas Mason was the first member of the Mason family to actually live here. Before that time, the land was rented out to tenants.

After receiving the deeds, Thomas Mason had a house constructed. By December 1788, Thomas and his wife, Sarah McCarty Chichester, were living in the new house. However, as late as 1792 George Mason wrote his son Thomas about the difficulty he was having getting materials for the Hollin Hall front porch.