Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Our Visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

 Thomas Jefferson started building his home at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1768 and completed in 1808.  Run by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., Monticello became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. 

One of the members of our tour group, Eddie Banks, is a descendent of Thomas Jefferson and
Sally Hemings. Our tour guide, Carol was delighted to have Eddie in our group.

Monticello displays Jefferson's love of Roman architecture.  His designs incorporated skylights and large windows to maximize natural lighting.  Indian artifacts, fossils, busts and oil paintings are on display.  Carol pointed to Jefferson's innovations, like the polygraph to copy letters as we moved from room to room.


 






Dave & Eric 
at Monticello





Kathy checks out the
ice storage.











Storage  Area
 





The Kitchen










These areas are off
a hallway beneath 
the house.









The gardens along
Mulberry Row








Thomas Jefferson designed his
grave stone and provided the
inscriptions for his grave.





A plaque near Thomas Jefferson's
 grave states that the Jefferson family
owns the cemetery and it continues
 to be a family cemetery.

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