Preservation

The Foundation's dual mission is education and preservation. In order to preserve Monticello, the departments of archaeology, buildings, curatorial, gardens and grounds, research, and restoration work together to maintain the house and landscape, research its original condition, and plan and implement special projects imperative for the protection of the estate and for its restoration. As an example of this team approach, in 1992 the Foundation completed a monumental initiative, the restoration of Monticello's roof. Researchers and architects restored Jefferson's complex and innovative design, materials, and technology while preventing the roof's perennial leaks. The Foundation has received several honors for this consequential project, including the first-ever Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In January 2004, the Foundation announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase the 330-acre property adjacent to Monticello currently known as Brown’s Mountain. Called Montalto by Jefferson and once owned by him, the mountain dominates the view to the west of Monticello. Over the last few decades, Monticello's viewshed in some directions has changed dramatically. This unique opportunity to purchase and preserve permanently this prominent feature of the local landscape became a major priority of the Foundation, which has launched a $15 million campaign to secure the acquisition.

Other recent preservation and restoration projects in the house include upgrading Monticello's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system; cleaning and repairing the Entrance Hall's Great Clock; maintaining the Parlor's single-acting glass doors (after all these years, only one rivet on the mechanism needed replacement); and adding a green floor-cloth to the Dome Room to return it to its Jeffersonian-era appearance. On the grounds, restoration projects over the years have included the recreation of Monticello's 1,000-foot-long vegetable garden, grove, fruit orchards, and vineyards. More recently, the Foundation has created an exhibit showing Jefferson's plant nursery, replanted mulberry trees lining the slave quarters and industrial buildings, and recreated the Venetian enclosures that were once attached to the south portico of the main house. The road by which most visitors approach Monticello has been transformed into the Thomas Jefferson Parkway, offering a scenic, protected, 89-acre linear park with an arboretum, hiking and biking trails, and open vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains.