diff -r fb2dc010dd91 apps/experiments/Modena/src/modena/SamplePage.java
--- a/apps/experiments/Modena/src/modena/SamplePage.java	Wed Feb 06 13:12:50 2013 -0800
+++ b/apps/experiments/Modena/src/modena/SamplePage.java	Wed Feb 06 19:17:09 2013 -0800
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import javafx.application.Platform;
+import javafx.css.PseudoClass;
 import javafx.geometry.Insets;
 import javafx.geometry.Orientation;
 import javafx.geometry.Pos;
@@ -83,11 +84,11 @@
 import javafx.scene.layout.VBoxBuilder;
 import javafx.scene.paint.Color;
 import javafx.scene.web.HTMLEditorBuilder;
+import static modena.SamplePageChartHelper.*;
 import static modena.SamplePageHelpers.*;
 import static modena.SamplePageTableHelper.*;
 import static modena.SamplePageTreeHelper.*;
 import static modena.SamplePageTreeTableHelper.*;
-import static modena.SamplePageChartHelper.*;
 
 /**
  * Page showing every control in every state
@@ -98,19 +99,27 @@
     private Map<String, Node> content = new HashMap<>();
     
     private Node withState(Node node, String state) {
-        node.getProperties().put("javafx.scene.Node.pseudoClassOverride", state);
+        if (node != null && state != null) {
+            // stop user from being able to change state
+            node.setMouseTransparent(true);
+            node.setFocusTraversable(false);
+            // set state to chosen state
+            final String[] pseudoClasses = (state).split("[\\s,]+");
+            for (String pseudoClass : pseudoClasses) {
+                node.pseudoClassStateChanged(PseudoClass.getPseudoClass(pseudoClass), true);
+            }
+        }
         return node;
     }
     
     private Node withState(final Node node, final String state, final String subNodeStyleClass, final String subNodeState) {
-        if (state!=null) node.getProperties().put("javafx.scene.Node.pseudoClassOverride", state);
+        withState(node, state);
         Platform.runLater(new Runnable() {
             @Override public void run() {
-                // TODO: node.lookup(subNodeStyleClass) is null if stage is not shown
                 if (node != null) {
                     Node subNode = node.lookup(subNodeStyleClass);
                     if (subNode != null) {
-                        node.lookup(subNodeStyleClass).getProperties().put("javafx.scene.Node.pseudoClassOverride", subNodeState);
+                        withState(node.lookup(subNodeStyleClass), subNodeState);
                     } else {
                         System.err.println("node = " + node+" node.lookup("+subNodeStyleClass+") = " + subNode);
                     }
diff -r fb2dc010dd91 javafx-ui-common/src/javafx/scene/Node.java
--- a/javafx-ui-common/src/javafx/scene/Node.java	Wed Feb 06 13:12:50 2013 -0800
+++ b/javafx-ui-common/src/javafx/scene/Node.java	Wed Feb 06 19:17:09 2013 -0800
@@ -598,16 +598,6 @@
      public final ObservableMap<Object, Object> getProperties() {
         if (properties == null) {
             properties = FXCollections.observableMap(new HashMap<Object, Object>());
-            if (PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_ENABLED) {
-                // listen for when the user sets the PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_KEY to new value
-                properties.addListener(new MapChangeListener<Object,Object>(){
-                    @Override public void onChanged(Change<? extends Object, ? extends Object> change) {
-                        if (PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_KEY.equals(change.getKey()) && getScene() != null) {
-                            updatePseudoClassOverride();
-                        }
-                    }
-                });
-            }
         }
         return properties;
     }
@@ -780,11 +770,6 @@
             }
 
             oldScene = _scene;
-            // we need to check if a override has been set, if so we need to apply it to the node now
-            // that it may have a valid scene
-            if (PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_ENABLED) {
-                updatePseudoClassOverride();
-            }
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -7843,12 +7828,6 @@
      * @param active whether or not the state is active
      */
     public final void pseudoClassStateChanged(PseudoClass pseudoClass, boolean active) {
-        // check if a override has been set, if so ignore all calls
-        if (PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_ENABLED && hasProperties()) {
-            final Object pseudoClassOverride = getProperties().get(PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_KEY);
-            if (pseudoClassOverride instanceof String) return;
-        }
-
         final Set<PseudoClass> pseudoClassState = styleHelper.getPseudoClassSet();
         
         if (active) {
@@ -8065,31 +8044,6 @@
     private static final PseudoClass FOCUSED_PSEUDOCLASS_STATE = PseudoClass.getPseudoClass("focused");
     private static final PseudoClass SHOW_MNEMONICS_PSEUDOCLASS_STATE = PseudoClass.getPseudoClass("show-mnemonics");
 
-    private static final boolean PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_ENABLED = AccessController.doPrivileged(
-            new PrivilegedAction<Boolean>() {
-                public Boolean run() {
-                    return Boolean.getBoolean("javafx.pseudoClassOverrideEnabled");
-                }
-            });
-    private static final String PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_KEY = "javafx.scene.Node.pseudoClassOverride";
-
-    /**
-     * Called to get current pseudo class override and apply it to this node
-     */
-    private void updatePseudoClassOverride() {
-        if (PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_ENABLED && properties != null) {
-            final Object pseudoClassOverride = getProperties().get(PSEUDO_CLASS_OVERRIDE_KEY);
-            if (pseudoClassOverride instanceof String) {
-                final Set<PseudoClass> pseudoClassState = styleHelper.getPseudoClassSet();
-                pseudoClassState.clear();
-                final String[] pseudoClasses = ((String)pseudoClassOverride).split("[\\s,]+");
-                for(String pc: pseudoClasses) {
-                    pseudoClassState.add(PseudoClass.getPseudoClass(pc));
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
     private static abstract class LazyTransformProperty
             extends ReadOnlyObjectProperty<Transform> {