Guide to Monticello's Historic Areas

The House and Terraces

All tours of the interior of the main Monticello house are guided. During certain months, the house's 'greenhouse' and flanking venetian porches are open for visitors to enjoy. Every angle of the house's exterior has something to admire, and the raised flanking terraces offer sweeping views of the forests to the southeast and choice glimpses of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia to northwest.

Learn more

• During your visit, take one of our regular or seasonal tours of the House
• Explore online, in the House section of this site or in the Monticello Explorer.

Dependencies

Located beneath the main house and its terraces, the dependencies contain the kitchen, workrooms, storage areas, and slave quarters where members of Monticello's enslaved community tended a variety of domestic tasks. The dependencies are open to anyone with a ticket to tour the house. The kitchen and other select spaces are also included the seasonal guided tours of the Plantation Community, which run hourly April through October and are free to anyone with a ticket to tour the house.

Learn more

• Take a self-guided tour of the dependencies, which include the restored Kitchen, Wine Cellar, and the Crossroads exhibition.
• Take one of the seasonal Behind the Scenes Tours or Jefferson and Wine Tours, which also features visits to some of Monticello dependencies.
• Tour the dependencies online through the Monticello Explorer.

Gardens

Jefferson considered gardening to be a fine art. The Flower and Vegetable Gardens, the Grove, the Orchards, and the Vineyards at Monticello were a botanic laboratory of ornamental and useful plants from around the world. These gardens are open to anyone with a ticket to tour the house. Free guided tours of the Gardens and Grounds run hourly April through October and are free to anyone with a ticket to tour the house.

Learn more

• During your visit, take one of the free guided Gardens and Grounds Tours or a seasonal Jefferson and Wine Tour, which highlights the Vineyards at Monticello.
• Tour the gardens online through the Monticello Explorer or visit House and Gardens section of this website.

Mulberry Row

Mulberry Row was a center of light industry and housing at Monticello and hummed with activity during Jefferson's day. A new exhibition, “Landscape of Slavery: Mulberry Row at Monticello” features outdoor mini-exhibitions at key sites augmented by computer animations and a website—all providing new ways for visitors to explore the past and understand the lives of enslaved people. Mulberry Row is featured in our seasonal, guided Slavery at Monticello Tours, which run hourly April through October and are free to anyone with a ticket to tour the house.

Learn more

• During your visit, take one of the optional guided Slavery at Monticello Tours.
• Tour the site online through the Monticello Explorer or visit Plantation and Slavery section of this website.

Jefferson's Gravesite - Monticello Cemetery/Graveyard

Jefferson is buried at Monticello along with members of his family and their descendants. His grave is marked by an obelisk inscribed with his own epitaph.

Learn more

• During your visit, stop by the cemetery and read the epitaph Jefferson wrote for himself.
• Explore online, by reading "All my wishes end . . at Monticello" and a brief report on the Old Style calendar, or viewing the site in the Monticello Explorer.