Search results
Monticello—home of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President (POTUS3). Author, Declaration of Independence, VA Statute for Religious Freedom. Founder, University of Virginia. World Heritage Site, Charlottesville, VA. Daily tours.
- Tips for Visiting
Home. Visit. Tips for Visiting. Quick Guide to Visiting...
- Buy Tickets
Explore Thomas Jefferson’s life, Monticello’s iconic...
- Hours of Operation
ADDRESS: 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway Charlottesville, VA...
- Calendar
Home. Exhibits & Events. Calendar of Events. Featured...
- Visiting FAQS
The seasonal Gardens & Grounds Tour explores Monticello’s...
- Videos & Podcasts
ADDRESS: 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway Charlottesville, VA...
- Tips for Visiting
Monticello (House) Discover the architecture, rooms, and furnishings of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, the only presidential house in the US named as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
- 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...
Due to its architectural and historic significance, the property has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1987, Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 1772
Aug 13, 2010 · Monticello sits atop a lofty hill in Albemarle County, Virginia, not far from the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson, its creator and most prominent resident, who spent more than four decades...
Nov 24, 2020 · Monticello is an historic home which was the creation and long-time home of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third president of the US and main author of its Declaration of Independence. History of Monticello. Under Jefferson, Monticello’s 5,000 acres of land was run as a plantation. The first “version” of Monticello was built from 1768.