Monticello



Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1770-1806.
  • Jefferson: Governor of Virginia, American minister to France, the first Secretary of State, the third president of the United States, and one of the most accomplished gentleman architects in American history. 
  • One of the earliest proponents of neoclassical architecture in the United States. Jefferson believed art was a powerful tool; it could elicit social change, could inspire the public to seek education, and could bring about a general sense of enlightenment for the American public.
  • Believed that the Wren-Baroque aesthetic common in colonial Virginia was too British for a North American audience. 
  • Thus, when Jefferson began to design his own home, he turned not to the architecture then in vogue around the Williamsburg area, but instead to the classically inspired architecture of Antonio Palladio and James Gibbs.  
  • Homes were usually in plantations. Jefferson decided instead to place his home, which he named Monticello (Italian for "little mountain") atop a solitary hill just outside Charlottesville, Virginia.
  • Jefferson had the opportunity to visit Classical and Neoclassical architecture in France due to his career + travels. This time abroad had an enormous effect on Jefferson’s architectural designs.
  • Influence from Roman temples. 
  • Jefferson diligently redesigned and rebuilt his home, creating in time one of the most recognised private homes in the history of the United States.
  •  In it, Jefferson fully integrated the ideals of French neoclassical architecture for an American audience.
  • The two-column deep extended portico contains Doric columns that support a triangular pediment that is decorated by a semicircular window. 
  • Monticello is a striking example of French Neoclassical architecture in the United States. 
  • By helping to introduce classical architecture to the United States, Jefferson intended to reinforce the ideals behind the classical past: democracy, education, rationality, civic responsibility. 
  • Because he detested the English, Jefferson continually rejected British architectural precedents for those from France. In doing so, Jefferson reinforced the symbolic nature of architecture. 
  • Symmetrical design; brick building, stucco; affect of marble 
  • Tall French doors and window allow ventilation 
  • Saving space; narrow stairs
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