Our third goal deploys our human and physical resources to connect Monticello more deeply to regional stakeholders. We will create more varied and sustained experiences to enhance what we offer as a site of frequent visitation, engagement, and delight.
Even as Jefferson looked across global horizons, he felt the pull of his home place. “There is no quarter of the globe so desirable as America, no state in America so desirable as Virginia, no county in Virginia equal to Albemarle & no spot in Albemarle to compare to Monticello,” he wrote from the mountaintop in 1795. We seek, in this plan, to recover the importance of the county and Commonwealth that Jefferson served throughout his life.
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Monticello is a global treasure. Our visitors often describe us as a “bucket list” destination, and guest surveys show that we fulfill that promise for those who journey to climb the mountain. But our operation will become more sustainable, and our offerings deeper and more meaningful, as we also concentrate on repeated, sustained engagements with guests living within a hundred-mile radius of Charlottesville.
A focus on better serving local audiences foregrounds variety – of places, exhibitions and programs, experiences, seasons of the year, and times of day. As we increase our connection to repeat visitors, we must think about our varied amenities as substantive parts of our attraction, not only as program support. The breadth of Jefferson’s interests and the expertise and accomplishments of the entire mountaintop community allow and indeed compel us to offer more varied programming with authentic connections to the history of the site. Activities ranging from concerts and wine-tastings to river walks and stargazing will allow us to bring the past to the present in ways that appeal to an audience diverse in ideology, background, race, and age.
We must also build more robust partnerships with area institutions, including the network of Virginia presidential sites and history museums, and centering on our sister UNESCO World Heritage site, the University of Virginia. We seek to be a meaningful