Evolution of the South Pavilion
The 1770 “outchamber” was the first Jefferson-designed building ever built and the first brick building constructed on the Mountaintop. Digital renderings by RenderSphere, LLC.
From 1770 until around 1775, Jefferson and his family lived above the cellar kitchen.
The main floor had a closet to the right of the fireplace and a door to a staircase that lead down to the kitchen on the left. The main door opened onto the West Lawn.
The cellar kitchen was initially equipped with a hearth for cooking and, possibly, an oven.
In the early 1790s, the cellar kitchen was plastered and a four-hole stew stove was built. Each “hole” was heated by hot coals, allowing enslaved cooks to make more delicate sauces and dishes.
In 1802, the South Wing was built to join the main house to this “outchamber," which Jefferson began calling the “South Pavilion.”
Renovations on the main floor included moving the door to open from the South Terrace, installing new windows, and removing the closet and stairs to the cellar. The alterations gave the room more space and better light for reading and study.
By 1809, the cellar kitchen had been converted to washroom (laundry). It's floor was raised three-and-a-half feet to match the grade of the newly built South Wing.
The South Pavilion and South Wing as it appeared after 1809.
The South Pavilion, probably begun in the summer of 1770, is believed to be the first brick building completed on Monticello mountain. It has two rooms, one over another. When Thomas Jefferson moved to Monticello in November 1770 he occupied the upper room of the pavilion, which at that point was a free-standing building. By the time he brought his bride, Martha Wayles Skelton, to Monticello in January 1772, the lower level had been finished as a kitchen and new furnishings had been acquired for the upper room, including a large bedstead and expensive bed hangings. The bed with its expensive curtains added a measure of privacy as well as color to this small, multifunctional living space.
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While there is no known inventory of the contents of the upper room at that time, the documentary and archaeological evidence suggest a number of furnishings that were quite likely used. These include a the large bedstead with fashionable hangings, a crib, Venetian blinds, side chairs, a library chair, a slip-covered easy chair, a secretary bookcase, a dressing table or bureau table, fireplace equipment, a dining table, pewter and cream ware table wares, and brass candlesticks.
The interior of the South Pavilion’s upper room, restored in 2018 and open to visitors, features a dress form representing the presence of Martha Wayles Jefferson.