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Walk the Monticello Trail. With native hardwood forest, deep ravines, elevated walks and spectacular views the Saunders-Monticello Trail is Central Virginia's most popular park. Tips for what to see and do at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, VA.
- Visiting FAQs
The seasonal Gardens & Grounds Tour explores Monticello’s...
- The Charlottesville Area
Frequently listed among the best places to live in the U.S.,...
- Jefferson's Gravesite
ADDRESS: 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway Charlottesville, VA...
- Mountaintop Activity Center
Home. Visit. Tips for Visiting. Mountaintop Activity Center...
- Accessibility
ACCESSIBLE SCHOOL PROGRAMS Monticello's Education Department...
- House Image Gallery
Discover the beauty and elegance of the Monticello House,...
- Visiting FAQs
- A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Charlottesville
- Building Monticello: A 40-Year Work in Progress
- Jefferson The Self-Made Architect
- Monticello: Act 1
- Monticello: Act II
- Visiting Monticello on The Highlights Tour
- Jefferson The Tech Geek
- Jefferson The Slave Owner
- The Skeleton in The Closet
- Jefferson The Businessman
Visiting Monticello is without a doubt one of the main reasons why so many people come to Charlottesville. Even as Canadians, Henk and I were more than curious to see the estate that one of the United States’ Founding Fathers called home, not just because of the historical significance of its owner, but because of the architectural significance of ...
Jefferson actually acquired the Monticello estate (Italian for “little mountain”) the old-fashioned way that most aristocrats did in the 18th century: he inherited it from his father, who had purchased the 5,000 or so acres in 1735. Although his father’s home was in the nearby valley, it was Jefferson’s idea to position hisnew home on the top of th...
Not having studied much of the man myself, I didn’t realize that Thomas Jefferson was a huge fan of European architecture, a passion he acquired during his many travels and multi-year residency in Europe. So great was this passion that he effectively became an architect himself (albeit without any formal training) and took advantage of every opport...
The first version of Monticello that Jefferson built was a two-story house with doubled porticoes supporting a pediment, a classically-inspired design that borrowed from both English and Italian architectural sources (16th century architect Andrea Palladiobeing one of these). Of course the house was only the beginning, and Jefferson needed to const...
Before all of this work on the property was even completed, Jefferson began making plans to renovate the home. This time he added more rooms, a private library, grand entrance hall and more, tripling the number of rooms to 21 total. At the same time, Jefferson dramatically changed the exterior of the home as well to make it appear to be a single st...
There are a number of tours offered at Monticello, including some that focus specifically on the second floor where the Dome room is, but we opted for the 45-minute guided Highlights Tour which would give us a great overview of the property inside and out. Plus it included access to the first floor spaces in the home which were typically the most g...
While touring the European-inspired interiors of Monticello, what surprised me most was how much of an ‘early adopter’ Jefferson was: he may have loved the aesthetic appeal and purity of classic design and forms, but he incorporated every modern innovation into his home that he could – from self-closing doors and remote door locks that he could ope...
Jefferson came from a wealthy family and as a man of means and property (10,000 acres including Monticello), that meant he also owned slaves, over 600 in his lifetime in fact. Many of these men and women were deployed to work the plantation fields close to Monticello, or worked at the on-site workshops and gardens adjacent to Jefferson’s home. Anot...
Jefferson had one very particular relationship with a slave, a woman named Sally Hemings, with whom he fathered six children, four of which survived to adulthood. Interestingly, all of these children were freed from slavery by Jefferson either before his death or in his will, which was definitely not the normal practice and the only slaves Jefferso...
Despite the fact that Jefferson came from money and was endowed with plenty of resource-rich land and the slaves to work it, he didn’t seem to be very good at actually making money. Or at least spending it wisely. For all of his land and property, he couldn’t seem to make his accounts balance, which is no surprise given his expensive tastes and obs...
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Nov 1, 2023 · Monticello is located at 1050 Monticello Loop in Charlottesville, Virginia, about two and a half hours from Washington D.C. It’s just a short drive from downtown Charlottesville to Monticello (about five miles) and about 75 miles northwest of the Virginia capital city of Richmond.
- Monticello Highlights Tour. Tour Time: 45 minutes. Adults: $42. Children 12-18: $13. Tickets are required for younger children however admission is lower or free.
- Self-Guided Monticello Tour. Tour Time: Up to You. Monticello Admission Price: Adults: $32. Children 12-18: $10. This isn't the tour we chose however as I was touring the home, I noticed QR codes throughout the areas.
- Family-Friendly Monticello Tour. Tour Time: 45 minutes. Monticello Admission Price: Adults: $42. Children 12-18: $13. Family Friendly Monticello Tour. This is the tour we chose because we have 4 kids ages 7-15.
- Behind the Scenes Day Pass. Tour Time: all morning or all afternoon. Monticello Admission Price: Ages 7+: $85. This Monticello tour will allow you access to all 3 floors.
To experience Monticello’s sea view, walk south past the main house and look beyond Mulberry Row and the vegetable garden. You can’t miss it, and you don’t want to. 3. The Gardens and the Pavilion. In 1811, Thomas Jefferson, now retired from the presidency to his lifelong home at Monticello, wrote to his friend Charles Willson Peale:
For your GPS, the address for Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home is: 1050 Monticello Loop. Charlottesville, VA 22902. Monticello is certainly one of the most popular things to see and do in Virginia. And its location in the middle of the state makes it rather easy to get to — whether you’re traveling along I-64, I-81, or I-95.