Media Contact:
Diane Bartlett
Director of Marketing Communications
Phone: (703) 777-2414
FAX: (703) 777-3282
E-mail: dbartlett@morvenpark.org

LEESBURG, June 30-While the historic landmark governor's mansion undergoes a multi-year preservation project, visitors to Morven Park north of Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia are invited to attend special one hour Saturday architectural history and restoration tours at 2 p.m. on July 12 and 26 and again on August 2 and 16. Admission for the architectural tours will be $4.00 for adults, $1.00 for children aged 6-to-12, and free for children under the age of six. Reservations are strongly encouraged.

Interpretive guide Eric Fusselle, a student at Loudoun Valley High School, who spent six months studying the architectural history of the mansion, will lead these special tours. Eric will focus on the evolution of the mansion over its 250-year history. The tours will include commentary on the mansion's exterior restoration, which is underway under the direction of Tidewater Preservation of Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Highlights of the architectural tours will be the variety of paint colors used on the exterior, the base materials of stone, wood and brick used to build the mansion, and the methods used by the preservationists as they work on the historic structure.

The architectural tours will be given in addition to the regular historic tours of the Morven Park Governor's Mansion, Museum of Hounds and Hunting, and Winmill Carriage Collection. Morven Park is open to the public Friday-Monday with tours every hour from 12 Noon to 4 p.m. The Mansion and Museums are located off Old Waterford Road north of Leesburg. For more information, call (703) 777-2414.

Photo: The historic Governor's Mansion at Morven Park is undergoing a multi-year preservation project.

Morven Park is operated in the public interest by the Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization founded to protect and promote the historic and cultural resources of Morven Park.