USA Guide
The Capital Region
Monticello
One of America's most familiar buildings – it graces the back of the nickel – Monticello, on Hwy-53, was the home of Thomas Jefferson for most of his life. It is surrounded by acres of beautiful hilltop grounds, which once made up an enormous plantation, with fine views out over the Virginia countryside. The symmetrical brick facade, centered upon a white Doric portico, belies the quirks of the interior, still furnished as it was when Jefferson lived here.
You can see Monticello on a guided tour; from the outside, it looks like an elegant, Palladian-style country home, but as soon as you enter the domed entrance hall, with its animal hides, native craftworks, and fossilized bones and elk antlers (from Lewis and Clark's epic 1804 journey across North America, which Jefferson sponsored as president), you begin to see a different side of Jefferson. His love of gadgets and clever contraptions is evidenced by an elaborate dual-pen device he used to make automatic copies of all his letters, and a weather vane over the front porch, connected to a dial so he could measure wind direction without stepping outside, among others. In his private chambers, he slept in a cramped alcove that linked his dressing room and his study, and would get up on the right side of the bed if he wanted to make some late-night notes, on the left if he wanted to get dressed.
With the price of a ticket to the main house you can also tour the gardens (April– Oct 9am–4pm), in which extensive flower and vegetable gardens spread to the south and west, and other parts of the plantation site (10am–3pm), focusing on the remains of Mulberry Row, Monticello's slave quarters. Despite calling slavery an "abominable crime," he owned almost two hundred slaves and recent research indicates he probably had one or more children with one of them, Sally Hemings. At the south end of Mulberry Row, a grove of ancient hardwood trees surrounds Jefferson's gravesite, marked by a simple stone obelisk; the epitaph, which lists his major accomplishments, does not mention his having been president.
Opening time: Daily: March– Oct 8am–5pm; Nov– Feb 9am–4.30pm
Telephone: 434/984-9822
Website: www.monticello.org
Price: $15