Monticello Blog

Thanks to support from David M. Rubenstein and the Manning Family Foundation, we are now able to reconstruct the North Dependency according to Jefferson’s original plans.

The Chinese-inspired railings around Monticello’s terraces date to ca. 1940. After almost 80 years the elaborate wooden panels have weathered to the point where repairs are no longer feasible. While the existing railings will be missed, the project is an exciting opportunity to accurately reconstruct an important Jefferson-era feature.

A wood chip by itself is very modest. Small in size, light-weight, it could easily be lost or thrown away. Happily, the wood chip Thomas Jefferson cut from William Shakespeare’s chair during his 1786 trip to Stratford-upon-Avon comes with an explanatory note.

This year, the Restoration Department concluded their research into the design of Monticello’s original exterior “Venetian” blinds. The search ultimately led them from Monticello to the U.S. Capitol.

Monticello’s iconic west front has been undergoing a major change in the past few months. The columns on the West Portico (aka Southwest Portico) are being restored to their original Jefferson-era appearance.

Winter at Monticello brings with it a solitary, clear beauty, with vistas that stretch for miles, but this pleasure was certainly tempered by the cold they endured.

I recently started thinking about guttae, the small cone-shaped features that are part of the Doric entablature that marches around the entire exterior of the house, including the pediments.

Did Thomas Jefferson use Monticello's Dome Room as a billiard hall? And if not him, who did?