Encyclopedia
1796 Mutual Assurance Plat
A plat by Jefferson with detailed descriptions and sketches of the main house, South Pavilion, and structures along Mulberry Row.
Architecture
Articles about Jefferson's architectural interests, influences, and accomplishments.
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![Jefferson's sketch of Monticello and buildings along Mulberry with descriptions of each written out for insurance purposes, 1796. Labeled as N133; K136. Dimensions: 45.7 cm x 22.1 cm (18" x 8-11/16"). Original manuscript from the Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts, Massachusetts Historical Society.]()
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![The alcove bed in Jefferson''s bed chamber.]()
EncyclopediaAlcove Beds
Jefferson was "much attached" to alcove beds and incorporated them into nearly every bedroom during his redesign of Monticello in the 1790s.
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![A view looking up into Monticello's pediment.]()
StoryArchitectural details: guttae
Small cone-shaped guttae march around the entire exterior of the house, including the pediments.
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![Elevation drawing of Monticello I, showing a neoclassical building with two-story portico with a triangular pediment, by Thomas Jefferson probably before March 1771, by Thomas Jefferson. N48; K23 [electronic edition]. Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive. Boston, Mass. : Massachusetts Historical Society, 2003. http://www.thomasjeffersonpapers.org/]()
PageArchitecture
Find out more on Thomas Jefferson's lifelong passion for architecture and how he developed Monticello and what would become iconic building styles in America.
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EncyclopediaArchitecture is my delight...(Quotation)
One of Jefferson's most famous quotes about architecture cannot be found in his own writings. Explore the attribution of this popular quotation and its original sources.
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EncyclopediaBank of Pennsylvania (Drawing)
A drawing of Benjamin Henry Latrobe's landmark Bank of Pennsylvania, sent to Jefferson in 1808 by architect Robert Mills, whose career Jefferson helped launch by connecting him with Latrobe.
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![The ruins of the Barboursville mansion.]()
EncyclopediaBarboursville
Barboursville in Orange County, Virginia, was the Barbour family plantation. Thomas Jefferson designed the main house for his friend, James Barbour, in the early 1800s.
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![Digital model of a Nailery (lighter colored building on the left) and Blacksmith's Shop (darker colored building on the right), both with simple, non-glass windows and large doors.]()
EncyclopediaBlacksmith's Shop
Workshop for blacksmithing and nail-making on Mulberry Row
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EncyclopediaCisterns
Jefferson had four cisterns installed at Monticello to collect rainwater and alleviate ongoing issues with supplying water to his mountaintop home.
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![Monticello West Front]()
StoryColumns Return to "Rendered" Appearance
The columns on the West Portico restored to their original Jefferson-era appearance.
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![Elevation drawing by John Neilson of the University of Virginia's Rotunda show the wings and two of the Pavilions.]()
EncyclopediaConstruction of the University, 1817-1826
Learn about the construction of the University of Virginia and Jefferson's vision for it.
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![A door leads down to an attic space with a semicircular window and a set of old furniture]()
EncyclopediaCuddy
Jefferson's granddaughters claimed this tucked-away attic space beside the Dome Room as their own private retreat, nicknaming it the "Cuddy" after a small nook found on a ship.
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David Watson
David Watson was a hired white house joiner who worked at Monticello in the 1780s and 1790s.
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![Monticello's Dome Room with its skylight, large circular windows, yellow walls, and green flooring.]()
EncyclopediaDome Room
Learn more about the design and history of Monticello's iconic third-floor Dome Room.
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EncyclopediaDrawing/Drafting Instruments
A look at some of the tools, like measuring rules, dividers, and protractors, that Thomas Jefferson used as a self-taught architect to make measured drawings.
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![A small a-frame clapboard structure with a simple wooden door, one window, and a chimney on one side.]()
EncyclopediaDwelling (MRS 2)
An unnamed log dwelling for the enslaved not listed in Jefferson's records.
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![Black and white photograph of Edgemont's Palladian portico with two tall chimneys and a bare tree in the foreground right.]()
EncyclopediaEdgemont
Edgemont is believed to have been designed by Jefferson as a home for his friend and neighbor, mill owner James Powell Cocke.
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![Photographic image of the West Front of Monticello: (c) Thomas Jefferson Foundation.]()
EncyclopediaEssay in architecture (Quotation)
Thomas Jefferson described Monticello as his "essay in Architecture."
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![Aerial of Monticello's South Wing.]()
StoryExcavating Monticello's First Kitchen and South Wing
Exciting discoveries in the South Pavilion and the adjacent South Wing that connects the Pavilion to the mansion.
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![Photographic image of the octagonal East Wing of the Farmington Country Club clubhouse, designed by Jefferson for his friend George Divers; (c) Thomas Jefferson Foundation.]()
EncyclopediaFarmington
The octagonal east wing of Farmington was designed by Jefferson for his friend, Farmington's owner, George Divers.
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![A digital rendering of the first Monticello, a two-story neoclassical building with brick masonry and a double portico constructed of wood.]()
EncyclopediaFirst Monticello
The "First Monticello" (sometimes called "Monticello I), refers to the house as it existed during the period extending roughly from 1770 to 1796.
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![Marie and Fiske Kimball posing together on a street]()
Fiske Kimball
Fiske Kimball was an art historian and architect who served as chairman of the Monticello's Restoration Committee and as a member of its board of trustees.
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![The front of Monticello's Textile Shop, a white stone building with a door, two rectangular window, and triangular pediment with semicircular window in its middle.]()
EncyclopediaFree Workmen
A complete list of more than 100 free workmen employed at Monticello during Jefferson's ownership, including their trades — from masons and carpenters to gardeners and millers — and years of service.
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![Photographic image of the garden pavilion at Monticello; (c) Thomas Jefferson Foundation.]()
EncyclopediaGarden Pavilion
Jefferson's neoclassical brick retreat perched atop the vegetable garden wall was a favorite spot for evening reading. Destroyed by a storm in the 1820s, it was reconstructed in 1984 based on his notes and archaeological findings.
![Elevation drawing of Monticello I, showing a neoclassical building with two-story portico with a triangular pediment, by Thomas Jefferson probably before March 1771, by Thomas Jefferson. N48; K23 [electronic edition]. Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive. Boston, Mass. : Massachusetts Historical Society, 2003. http://www.thomasjeffersonpapers.org/](https://shadwell-montalto.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/images/Jefferson/Day/arch_n48_lg.jpg?w=1200&h=1200&fm=webp&auto=compress&fit=crop&dm=1761929832&s=ca7a51d67eba17e7cc83b1fbb4c7ccae)
