South Square Room
Jefferson’s adult daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph used this room as a sitting room and a place to manage the work of enslaved domestic servants. Martha and her husband, Thomas Mann Randolph, had 12 children, many of whom lived at Monticello during Jefferson’s retirement years. Enslaved families also lived at Monticello. As a 5,000 acre plantation, around 130 enslaved men, women, and children lived at Monticello at any given time. About 15 slaves worked in the house as domestic workers.
Dimensions: 14' 10" × 15' 4"; ceiling 10' 0"
Order: Tuscan
Source: Palladio
Color: Currently, blue; recent investigations show multiple layers of paint, including true fresco with pigment mixed into wet plaster.
Unusual features: Rumford fireplace altered by Jefferson to burn – in a more efficient manner – wood instead of coal.
Furnishings of note: Tables and chairs for reading, writing, and sewing. Bookboxes fill the alcove as they did when Martha used this room. Today, a portrait of Martha Jefferson Randolph, painted by James Westhall Ford, hangs in a place of honor. Silhouettes of family members and popular engravings hang on the walls.