In this room, enslaved people served Thomas Jefferson, his family, and guests two meals a day.
Audio Overview
Listen as Monticello Guide Ashley Hollinshead provides an overview of the Dining Room.
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- Daniel Webster, Notes of a Conversation with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, 1824
On either side of the fireplace are two open doors revealing small compartments for dumbwaiters that connect to the wine cellar beneath this room. At the end of meals, enslaved waiters sent bottles of wine up to the dining room with the pulley system on these devices. While he lived in Paris, Jefferson became enthusiastic about French and Italian wines. He returned to the United States with over 600 bottles of wine and even tried, unsuccessfully, to start a vineyard at Monticello. Albemarle County’s thriving wine country owes its success to Jefferson’s early interests.
Jefferson decorated this room with busts of Revolutionary heroes. From left to right you can see above you busts of John Paul Jones, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette. The tea room served multiple purposes, including overflow seating during meals and as a reading and writing area for members of Jefferson’s family.
Inside the glass case to the right of the Tea Room are a set of short silver cups that belonged to Thomas Jefferson. In 1806, Jefferson’s close friend and mentor George Wythe gifted him a set of silver cups that Jefferson had melted down and transformed into the cups you see here.. Half of the cups are engraved “G.W. to T.J.,” and served as a constant reminder of Jefferson’s friend and teacher.