MONTICELLO

MONTICELLO

We left Harpers Ferry and drove the 4 hours to the home of the author of the Declaration of Independence, and former US President, Thomas Jefferson. We took a tour of his house and grounds; saw his plantation, and walked his lawn. The location and setting of this hilltop plantation is amazing!


He was an amazing man, in many ways. He also had flaws and faults that would be looked down upon in our day and age. He was a slave owner of about 150 slaves. Even though he told his foreman to treat them with kindness, he would have some whipped to set an example to the others.

His Monticello was built for his wife. It was never finished during her lifetime and she never got to live in it. They did, however, live in a very small cottage on the nearly 5000 acre property. It was a one room, garage size cottage, barely big enough to turn around in. But it would be home for them during the years of construction.

The flowers were just beginning to bloom. The grounds were well kept with Monticello continually being restored and maintained. The old trees around the house were an oddity in their shape and appearance. One rather large stump in the grass near the house made one think about its life during Jefferson's stay.

Jefferson loved gardening and, apparently, kept a large vegetable garden just down the hill from the house. During his time, there were other outbuildings near his garden that are now gone.

Some of Jefferson's inventions were evident inside his home; the dumb waiter, the rotating wall for food service, a clock above the entry way, a lever hidden below the floor that would close the double doors by moving only one, a duplicator writing instrument, and several others.

The kitchen was below the South Deck and brought into the dining room from below the house. The animal stables were below the North side upper deck. At the north corner, below the deck was a 16' round by 16' deep cistern that was used for ice storage. The slaves would cut ice chunks from the streams and lakes and dump them into the cistern, filling it to the top, through a lockable door. He didn't want anyone stealing his ice, as it would be used through the summer for making ice cream and keeping milk and foods cold.

It was a beautiful plantation and one that would well worth visiting.

We give it two thumbs up!