Thomas Jefferson was a man of many accomplishments. He served as governor of Virginia, as minister to France, as secretary of state under George Washington, as vice president in the administration of John Adams and as third president of the United States.
But one of his greatest passions was Monticello, his mountaintop home near the community of Charlottesville, Virginia. Described by Jefferson as his “essay in architecture,” it is the only house in the United States designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It also became America’s first National Horticultural Landmark in 1998.
Jefferson inherited a considerable estate from his father, who was a well-to-do Virginia landowner. He began building a home on the property in 1769. Although the mansion would take 40 years to complete, part of it was ready for occupancy in 1772, when he married Martha Wayles Skelton.
Jefferson designed every detail of Monticello himself. The low, red brick structure with a white dome and Doric portico reflected his interest in neo-classical architecture.
The perspective of the dome and west-facing portico, pictured on the U.S. nickel coin, is what most people think of as the front of Monticello. But in Jefferson’s day, guests probably were admitted via the entrance hall on the east side of the structure. Only the family likely used the west entrance, which opens into the parlor.
Jefferson’s initial design of Monticello called for 14 rooms. The house was completed, except for porticos and decorative interior woodwork, by 1784, when Jefferson left for Paris to help negotiate commercial treaties on behalf of the United States. He had expected to stay away just a year but was asked to succeed Benjamin Franklin as minister to France, which resulted in his living abroad until 1789.
Jefferson served as George Washington’s secretary of state from 1789 until 1793. He then spent three years in retirement, devoting himself to farm and family. He still received distinguished guests, but he also welcomed visits from his grandchildren, planted 1,000 peach trees, and experimented with a new plow and other inventions.
Monticello was the center of a 5,000-acre plantation, where an extended community of free men and slaves lived and worked. In addition to raising crops and tending livestock, they made nails, barrels, cloth and carriages. They also helped to build the house, crafted many of its furnishings, and cultivated the gardens.
The gardens at Monticello were a botanical showpiece, a source of food, and an experimental laboratory of useful and ornamental plants from around the world. More than 330 varieties of vegetables were grown in a 1,000-foot-long garden terrace, and 170 kinds of fruit were produced in two orchards on the grounds.
During his posting overseas, Jefferson had been greatly influenced by European architecture. When he returned home, he began drafting a new design for remodeling and enlarging Monticello. Work began in 1796, the same year that Jefferson returned to public office as vice president to John Adams, and was completed by 1809, shortly after he ended his second term as president. The final complex includes 43 rooms and encompasses more than 11,000 square feet.
Jefferson spent the last 17 years of his life at Monticello, corresponding with old friends such as John Adams. He died there on July 4, 1826.
What Jefferson wanted remembered
Despite his love for Monticello, Jefferson did not expect to be remembered as its architect. His tombstone, for which he wrote the inscription, mentions only three of his achievements: “author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.”
Because Jefferson died more than $100,000 in debt, his daughter and grandson were forced to sell most of the contents of Monticello and, later, the plantation and mansion itself. However, the efforts of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns Monticello today, have restored the home and grounds to their former glory.
About 60% of the furnishings now on display at Monticello are or may be items original to Jefferson. Others are period pieces or reproductions of original pieces.
In 1993, the foundation commemorated the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson with a catalogue and loan exhibition entitled “The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.” More than 150 objects and works of art once belonging to Jefferson were returned to Monticello for the show, and many of them remain on display.
Monticello welcomes more than 500,000 visitors each year. It is open for tours every day of the year except Christmas.
»