Jefferson's MONTICELLO

Thomas and I gazing over the landscape of Monticello.

Jefferson taught himself to be an architect, relying on observation and books.  In 1768 Jefferson began leveling the Monticello mountaintop for a house.  Thus began a 40-year period of design, construction, and remodeling to create his "essay in architecture".  

A weathervane sits above the east portico.

Its dial is on the ceiling of the front portico so Jefferson only needed to step out on the porch to view the wind direction, he didn't need to go out into the yard and look at the weathervane on the rooftop.

I love the molding on the underside of the eaves.

This clock* sits above the east portico door and can be viewed inside in the hall where Jefferson created a museum to demonstrate that North America could hold its own with Europe.  Exhibits included maps, European Art, bones, horns, and skins of extinct and living North American animals, and Native American objects given by western tribes to Lewis and Clark.

*Weights on either side of the front door drive the clock.  Jefferson wound the clock every Sunday by raising the weights to the ceiling.  He discovered that he could also tell the day of the week by noting where the weights were each day on the wall.

A hole was cut in the floor because Saturday ended up in the basement!

 

East portico steps

Front porch slate

These windows had outdoor and indoor shutters for privacy and could be opened to cool the house in warm weather.

View of the mountains from the North Terrace.  Jefferson's design for Monticello linked together spaces for working, living, and storage beneath the main house, pavilions, and terraces.  The hidden "dependencies" preserved the views of the landscape and kept domestic activites mostly out of sight.

Windows to the green house.

Green house window

Enjoying the gardens outside the North Pavilion.  This pavilion was used as a study by Jefferson's son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph.

Hyacinths

Flowering tree planted near the South Dependency Wing.

Carriage House under the North Dependency Wing.

Stables

Rings for tying horses in stables.

Hay manger

The circular Ice House is 16 feet across and 16 feet deep.  Enslaved and hired workers filled it each year with ice from the nearby Rivanna River, shallow ponds, and mountain top snow.

Scott in South Cellar Passage.

Ceiling in passage; notice how the boards alternate their direction for strength.

Window in passage creating light in the underground tunnel.

Beer Cellar

Kitchen

Hearth with hand-cranked rotisserie.

The kitchen's stew stove, Jefferson thought it was "indispensable in the kitchen" because it allowed greater control of the heat, important to French coking.

Coals were placed on the grate and the ashes fell to the opening below.

Cook's room

Passage window 

Daffodils

Large garden on the west side of Monticello.

West portico

Fish pond, fish from neighboring streams were kept alive in this pool until ready to be eaten.

The South Pavilion at the end of the terrace was the first building erected on the mountaintop.  Jefferson lived there from November 1770, while Monticello was under construction.

He and his wife, Martha, started their married life in the pavilion's upper room in 1772.

Garden Pavilion, Jefferson could stand here and look out over Monticello's gardens, vineyards, and orchards.