- Monticello -
Home of Thomas Jefferson
Charlottesville, Virginia
My final stop of the trip, this is the home designed and built by Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence. Beginning in 1769, Jefferson spent some 40 years designing, building, redesigning, altering and expanding the house, on the summit of a hill with sweeping views of the Virginia countryside. I arrived as early as possible on a clear, sunny morning, which allowed me to capture the house in fine light against a cloudless, blue sky - and not a single other visitor in sight:
In Jefferson's time, as today, visitors entered Monticello through the glass doors on the east side of the house, and found themselves in an entrance hall that served as a private museum display of artifacts relating to the American frontier - early maps; Native American clothing, weapons, and ceremonial objects; elk antlers; mastodon teeth and other fossils; etc. Many of these items were collected by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The weather-vane above the front porch of Monticello is attached to a dial on the underside of the portico (visible here just above the clock), which allowed Jefferson to easily read the direction of the wind.
Jefferson's preferred style of architecture was Classical Revival, which emulated the buildings of ancient Greece.
Above: it was a cold morning in late October at the time of my visit, and there was still a visible layer of frost on the grass and fallen leaves in the back yard. Here, I'm facing the more familar west facade - technically, the "back" of the house. The visibility of the dome here makes this side more distinctive and recognizable, especially since this view appears on the U.S. nickel:
Above: the Vegetable Garden Pavilion - with it panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, Jefferson apparently used this small structure as a quiet place to read. The current version is a reconstruction built in 1984, based on Jefferson's notes; the original was apparently destroyed by a wind storm as long ago as the 1820's.
Below: the vegetable garden and a view of Montalto, an even higher hill which was also part of Jefferson's property:
Above: a tunnel providing access to storage cellars under the main house. This is part of the "dependencies," extensions that Jefferson added on either side of the house, containing a variety of essential spaces for cooking, cleaning, and storage, as well as an ice-house, "necessaries" (outhouses), and stables.
Above: a kitchen in the south dependencies.
Below: stables in the north dependencies.
Jefferson's grave monument in the family cemetery, located about a quarter-mile from the house. This is not the original obelisk; the first one was heavily damaged by visitors within just a few years of its installation in 1833, as they chipped off pieces for souvenirs!
But the new marker bears the original inscription that Jefferson composed for this purpose, listing the three achievements that he regarded as his most memorable: "Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." Notably absent are his two terms as President of the United States - a thankless job that he did not highly regard.
That concludes the trip!