Thank You, Thomas Jefferson!

It seems to be a “presidential” week although this post is more about the amazing architecture of the Jefferson Memorial and Monticello, President Jefferson’s beloved home in Virginia, than about the man, Jefferson.

The Memorial was designed by architect John Russell Pope and others, the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. drew inspiration from the Pantheon in Rome and the famed Rotuna at the University of Virginia, which Jefferson himself designed. Dedicated on April 13, 1943 (the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birthday), the memorial is lined by a colonnade and features an impressive dome.

Inside the marble-lined interior stands a 19-foot bronze sculpture of Jefferson.

And Monticello, the Jefferson-designed  plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 14.

Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres (20 km²), and due to its architectural and historic significance, the property has been designated a National Landmark.

In 1987, Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The current nickel, a United States coin, features a depiction of Monticello on its reverse side.

Jefferson designed the main house using neoclassical design principles described by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and reworking the design through much of his presidency to include design elements popular in late 18th-century Europe and integrating numerous ideas of his own. Along a prominent lane adjacent to the house, Mulberry Row, the plantation came to include numerous outbuildings for specialized functions, e.g., a nailery; quarters for slaves who worked in the home; gardens for flowers, produce, and Jefferson’s experiments in plant breeding—along with tobacco fields and mixed crops.

At Jefferson’s direction, he was buried on the grounds, in an area now designated as the Monticello Cemetery. The cemetery is owned by the Monticello Association. 

After Jefferson’s death, his daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, apart from the small family graveyard, sold Monticello for $7,500. In 1834, it was bought by Uriah P. Levy, a commodore in the U.S. Navy for $2,500, (~$73,981 in 2021) who admired Jefferson and spent his own money to preserve the property. His nephew Jefferson Montoe Levy  took over the property in 1879; he also invested considerable money to restore and preserve it.

In 1923, Monroe Levy sold it to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF) for $500,000 (~$6.25 million in 2021), which operates it as a house museum and educational institution.

If you haven’t already seen this magnificent structure, go!