1. The Nickel View
Did you know that you might have Monticello in your pocket right now? That’s because the iconic view from the West Lawn has been engraved on the back of the nickel since 1938!
Affectionately called the "nickel view," this is one of our most popular spots for group photos and selfies.
Your ticket to Monticello provides access to all of our gardens and grounds, including this view. To see Monticello’s nickel view, walk out of the main house and across the West Lawn. At the far edge of the lawn, turn around and take in the inspiration for the nickel’s engraving. Can you spot the similarities and differences?
2. The “Sea View”
Many residents and visitors who explore the mountaintop liken the view from Monticello's East Lawn and South Terrace to looking at the ocean.
When looking south beyond Monticello, you’ll see very little developed land; instead, enjoy a view of hills, forests, and fields. The "sea view" is especially stunning on days when a light fog settles low on the landscape, creating a further illusion of the ocean.
All Monticello tours come with the opportunity to explore the gardens and grounds. To experience Monticello’s sea view, use the stairs to the upper level of the South Terrace, or walk from the east front of the main house towards Mulberry Row.
3. The Gardens and Garden Pavilion
In 1811, Thomas Jefferson, enjoying retirement at Monticello, wrote to his friend Charles Willson Peale:
“I have often thought that if heaven had given me choice of my position and calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered, and near a good market for the productions of the garden.”
Like Thomas Jefferson, Monticello’s gardens were revolutionary. Thanks to Jefferson’s enthusiasm for international seed exchange and to the garden’s ingenious design, more than 330 varieties of 89 species of vegetables grew on the mountaintop. The gardens were an experimental laboratory as well as a source of food for the main house.
Open to visitors year-round, this pioneering legacy lives on in Monticello’s gardens today. Your ticket to Monticello provides access to all of our gardens and grounds. To see the 1000-foot-long vegetable garden, walk past the South Wing of the main house, cross Mulberry Row, and take the stairs down to the lower terrace.
4. The Dome Room
Jefferson’s plan for the Dome Room on the third floor of the house is not fully understood; at times it served as a bedroom for a married grandson, other times as a storeroom, and possibly as a playroom for children. In August of 1809, Margaret Bayard Smith, a friend of Jefferson, wrote:
“We looked into a beautiful and circular room in the dome—it is 26 or 27 feet diameter—has eight circular windows and a handsome sky-light. It was designed for a lady’s drawing room when built, but soon found, on account of its situation in the dome, to be too inconvenient for that use, and was abandoned to miscellaneous purposes.”
You can always see the outside of Monticello’s Dome while walking around the mountaintop, but did you know you can explore inside the Dome as well? During your Behind-the-Scenes Tour your guide will take you up and offer you a chance to explore the Dome Room.
5. Mulberry Row
Mulberry Row, named for the Mulberry trees lining each side, was the dynamic, industrial hub of Jefferson’s 5,000-acre plantation. As the principal plantation street, it was the center of work and domestic life for dozens of people – enslaved people, indentured servants, and free people.
Your ticket to Monticello provides access to Mulberry Row. The 1,000-foot terrace is easily accessed by walking around the southern wing of the main house. As you explore Mulberry Row, interpretive signs, displays, and reconstructed buildings provide insight into what life was like for those who lived and labored at Monticello.
