Writing to fellow architect Benjamin Labtrobe seven months after retiring from the presidency, Jefferson described Monticello as his "essay in architecture." Always balancing practicality with beauty, Jefferson noted his essay "has been so much subordinated to the law of convenience, & affected...
Most exterior shutters today are eye-pleasing accents, decorative but not functional. But for Thomas Jefferson, shutters provided shade from what he described as "the constant, beaming, almost vertical sun of Virginia" while permitting airflow from summer breezes. They also protected the expensive...
The Dome Room and the Cuddy are two very different spaces situated adjacent to one another on the third floor of Monticello, but they are alike in that neither has been visited much over the life of this busy house. In 1809 Margaret Bayard Smith, Jefferson’s friend and frequent guest, called the...
Visitors to Monticello and the University of Virginia (UVA) can easily see their connections to Thomas Jefferson, the visionary architect of both these U.N. World Heritage sites. The recent dedication of the Memorial to Enslaved Workers at UVA reveals Monticello’s enslaved community and the...
In 1807, Jefferson installed the compass rose to the ceiling of Monticello’s East Portico. The rose connected to a wind vane mounted on the roof and its rotation allowed Jefferson to record which direction the wind was blowing at any given time.
On February 5, 1769, Thomas Jefferson replied to his cousin’s request that his son study law under him. Writing from Shadwell , his boyhood home, Jefferson said he must decline: "I do not expect to be here more than two months in the whole between this and November next, at which time I propose to...
This summer, Monticello’s Restoration Department will be removing the East Portico’s mid-20th-century wooden beadboard ceiling and restoring its Jefferson-era finish, a traditional three-coat lime plaster. An 1807 letter from mason and plasterer Hugh Chisholm to Jefferson provides the best...
Begun in 1768, the South Pavilion is the first brick building built on Monticello’s mountaintop, and the first home of Thomas Jefferson and his wife Martha after they were married in 1772. It has one particular identifying feature that separates it from other buildings: the roof. Originally covered...
Monticello is one of the most beautiful and recognizable houses in America. It’s elegant and harmonious, and it was revolutionary for American architecture at the time. If you ever need a quick reminder of its features, just fish a nickel out of your pocket. So, when I saw a listing for a...
