Mason was the eldest son of planter and businessman George Mason V and grandson of United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the United States Constitutional Convention, George Mason. Born on 11 August 1786 in Fairfax County, Virginia, Mason was the eldest son of George Mason V and his wife Elizabeth "Betsey" Mary Ann Barnes Hooe. George married his cousin Elizabeth Thomson Mason, daughter of Thomson Mason and Sarah McCarty Chichester, on 17 February 1813.
Mason inherited Gunston Hall and by 1825, he had also acquired the Fairfax family seat of Mount Eagle. George died on 21 August 1834 at Gunston Hall at the age of 48. She was later the subject of a lawsuit brought against her by George Mason of Hollin Hall which resulted in the Gunston Hall tract being sold at public auction to relative George Mason Graham on 9 February 1842.
Eleanor was given the right to live there for her lifetime.
She and Graham sold the property in 1866.
His widow Eleanor was the last member of the Mason family to inhabit Gunston Hall.
