Monticello, VA

Thomas Jefferson built Monticello (little mountain) over a period of 40 years. He started by flattening a mountain top on the 5000 acres he inherited. He and his wife began living in one of the small houses at the ends of the L's that embrace the main building. Monticello was busy (even though it was a Monday in October). We had a tour of the house, including the green house, Jefferson's third library (one was destroyed by fire and the second was donated to what became the National Archives), his room filled with evidence of his multiple interests, and the entry hall filled with artifacts from Lewis and Clark and others which were intended to educate people while they waited to see Jefferson.
There was no good water source at Monticello, which is on the top of a hill. Jefferson built four cisterns and collected rainwater. Since the L's were built underground with walkways on their roofs, he made the roof corrugated (note the different width beams in this photo) to collect additional rainwater. Jefferson also designed an underground corridor which connected each L under the main house. There were store rooms, a wine cellar (NPR says that will be open to the public next year with a lot of information about the types of wines Jefferson collected) with a dumb waiter to carry bottles to the Sitting Room, a cider/beer cellar, etc.
Jefferson became a devotee of French cuisine after he served as the US Ambassador to France. He brought one slave with him to be trained as a French chef. Monticello's kitchen included this 8-burner stove which permitted the simmering of sauces. The copper pots came from France. The kitchen also had a fireplace with a spit which operated by means of a weighted pulley system and a baking oven.
Monticello also includes this huge garden (1000' long) which was originally surrounded by a palisade wood wall. The garden was built on a flat ledge which was partially built on a stone wall. In the garden Jefferson experimented with over 350 different varieties of vegetables. Below the vegetable garden was an orchard with more than 150 different varieties of trees. Jefferson did a lot of grafting himself.

We walked from here to his gravestone which famously remembers him only for the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia freedom of religion clause in its constitution and the creation of the University of Virginia and ignores his service as VP, President and ambassador, positions Jefferson thought it was simply his duty to fill.

Jefferson, had about 200 slaves and only freed about 7 during his lifetime. Though he abhorred slavery and had promised the slaves freedom at his death, due to the huge debts on the plantation, they were all sold.