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"Servant's Houses" r., s. & t.

Dwellings for enslaved families, 1793–ca. 1830

Digital recreation of three wooden slave dwellings in front of a tall wooden fence; digital image by Rendersphere, LLC

Built around 1793, these identical log dwellings were “servants houses of wood with wooden chimnies, & earth floors, 12. by 14. feet, each and 27. feet apart from one another.” They likely contained lofts and were made of pine “logs, hewed on two sides . . . and dove tailed.”  The structures were single-family dwellings for enslaved artisans and house servants—likely residents of the buildings included Sally Hemings and her family, Critta Hemings and her son James (Jamey), and joiner John Hemmings and his wife Priscilla.   All three of the dwellings were probably demolished around 1830.

Enslaved residents

-Monticello Curatorial and Restoration staff, 2012; digital renderings added in 2018

Digital recreation of three wooden slave dwellings in front of a tall wooden fence; digital image by Rendersphere, LLC
Digital model of the buildings r, s, and t; image by Rendersphere, LLC
The location of "Servant's Houses" r., s. & t. in relation to the main house (partial showing bottom right) on the 1796 Mutual Assurance Plat