Monticello - Charlottesville

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is located on Thomas Jefferson Parkway in Charlottesville, Virginia.  It sits on land inherited by Jefferson from his father, Peter Jefferson.  The name Monticello dates as far back as 1767, but actual construction on the property started a few years later.  By 1770 there was a structure on the property, known as Monticello I, a two-story 8 room Neoclassical mansion, where he and his wife, Martha, lived.  Building of the home was halted in 1785, three years after his wife died, and shortly after he was appointed Minsiter to France.  The four years he spent in Paris opened his eyes to significant architectural styles of the day and on his return to America in 1789 he began to see the possibilities in recreating Monticello.  What was to become Monticello II began in 1796 with a complete overhaul of the structure, including excavation of the cellers, removal of the roof, and the installation of the now-famous dome in 1800.  During much of the time that construction was underway Jefferson was serving as President of the United States, a position he held from 1801 to 1809.  He monitored the progress from Washington as craftsmen oversaw the daily duties, with a large, trained slave labor force doing much of the actual labor.  Jefferson retired to his newly completed home in 1809, where he lived until his death on July 4, 1826.  He was buried on the property at the Monticello Cemetery.  Towards the end of his life Monticello fell into some disrepair as Jefferson was plagued with debts and the distraction of completing the building of the nearby University of Virginia.  His daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, inherited the property, and the debts, and was slowly forced to liquidate the property.  In 1827 she sold the slaves and all of the household furnishings.  In 1831 she sold the property to James D. Barclay.  Uriah Levy, a commodore in the U.S. Navy, purchased the land in 1834 and realizing the significance of Jefferson's work, began restoring the land with his own funds.  Work continued under his nephew, Jefferson Monroe Levy, who inherited the property in 1879.  In 1923 the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation purchased Monticello and opened the home and land as a museum.  Today the restored home still functions as a museum, with many of the rooms in the house, including Jefferson's bedroom, and the James and Dolley Madison room, where the couple stayed during their frequent visits, open to the public.  The grounds also house gardens along with a replica of the Hemmings cabin near where the original once stood, and a marker indicating the location of Sally Hemmings' cabin.  Monticello was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1969, and designated, along with the University of Virginia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.        

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