Monticello South Square Room
Dimensions: 14' 10" x 15' 4"; ceiling 10' 0"
Order: Tuscan
Source: Palladio
Color: Currently, blue; recent investigations show multiple layers of paint.
Purpose of Room: Martha Jefferson Randolph's sitting room, where she sewed, taught her children, and directed the slaves who worked as household servants; the room also housed some of the overflow of Thomas Jefferson's books from his Library.
Unusual features: Rumford fireplace altered by Jefferson to burn -- in a more efficient manner -- wood instead of coal.
Furnishings of note: Tables and chairs for reading, writing, and sewing, including a sewing table made in the Monticello joinery and attributed to John Hemmings; today a portrait of Martha Jefferson Randolph, painted by James Westhall Ford, hangs over the fireplace. Silhouettes of family members and engravings hung on the walls.
Objects on Display in this Room
- Alexander von Humboldt (Silhouette)
- Ann Cary Randolph Bankhead (Sculpture)
- Book Boxes
- Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (Sculpture)
- Hore Browse Trist (Silhouette)
- Joinery Cabinet
- Joinery Work Table
- Le Dejeune de Ferney (Engraving)
- Maria Cosway (Engraving)
- Martha Jefferson Randolph (Painting)
- Mary Randolph (Physionotrace)
- A Midsummer-Night's Dream (Engraving)
- Nicholas Philip Trist (Silhouette)
- Side Chairs by Peter Scott
- The Taming of the Shrew (Engraving)
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This room is one of my favorites at Monticello. As part of my job, I sometimes give Monticello house tours. This room is one that I always have trouble leaving with the groups--I want to share everything I know about it! For me this room represents a family hub in the house. The South Square Room or Family Sitting Room is a great place to think about Martha Jefferson Randolph and her roles at Monticello--mother, wife, daughter, teacher, and mistress of the plantation. I love thinking about the lives that intersected there. It had to be full of play, work, and learning.