Jefferson was Monticello's architect. But many of its finest architectural features -- including this lovely Elliptical Arch in Monticello's Library -- were realized by two highly skilled joiners, James Dinsmore, a hired worker, and John Hemmings, who was enslaved at Monticello.
Designed by Thomas Jefferson, executed by Louis Chantrot. If the Great Clock in the Hall was the most important public clock at Monticello, the Obelisk Clock was Jefferson's most important private one. Jefferson used the tall, pyramid-like shape of the ancient obelisk for a new clock that was...
Every restoration architect dreads leaky roofs, unstable foundations, and finding a document filled with important details after a project is finished. Milton Grigg – the architect who designed the restoration of Monticello’s North Dependency in 1940 – successfully reconstructed a functional roof...
How do you locate evidence for missing curtain hardware two hundred years after it was removed? Science! The Restoration Department recently used four different techniques to locate evidence for curtain hardware. First, a flash light was racked over the window trim to reveal any depressions or any...
The Chinese-inspired railings around Monticello’s terraces date to ca. 1940. After almost 80 years the elaborate wooden panels have weathered to the point where repairs are no longer feasible. While the existing railings will be missed, the project is an exciting opportunity to accurately...
It's unofficially #ColorOurCollections Week (Feb. 1-5), so we're sharing a few Monticello-related drawing. Three are from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), which were done in the early 1990s. The last is of a Twinleaf plant (Jeffersonia diphylla) by former Shannon Research Historian at...
Behind the scenes at Monticello, our curators are intrigued by a ceramic inkstand and sandbox that are thought to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson. According to a Jefferson descendent, the set was acquired while he was Minister to France (1785-1789). It was then purportedly used at Monticello...
People today often forget how flexible rooms were in the past. The North Passage on the 2 nd floor of Monticello is a prime example of multi-functionality. Of course it was a corridor, but it also acted as a storage area, work room, and as sleeping quarters for visitors and enslaved workers. This...
How did they install furniture on the third floor of Monticello? With restoration of the upper floors underway and not much historical evidence to go on, our Restoration and Curatorial teams were tasked with finding a solution around those narrow stairways. After lots of measuring, they decided...
