Monticello - Charlottesville, VA - Homesteads on Waymarking.com

Construction started in 1769 and was never really completed until 40 years later in 1809. Thomas Jefferson was constantly revising the house, and would usually incorporate design aspects he saw and liked in other homes and buildings both in America and Europe.

The housing structure is comprised of 43 rooms with 33 of the rooms in the house itself and the remainder in the outlying attached structures. Most of the materials were drawn from the surrounding land and processed on the plantation.

There are North and South wings of the house. One wing has the kitchen, smoke house, and other facilities. The other wing was used mostly as stables.

The weather vane, located at the entrance of the East front of the house, has a compass rose at the base of it showing the direction of the wind. Since Thomas Jefferson's family was one of the few first settlers of the area, he used this weather vane and compass rose combination to keep record of the wind direction statistics in this area.

The dome of the house was not part of the original design, but was added after Thomas Jefferson returned from France. The function of the room located in the dome is unclear and speculation has been made that it was used for storage or as a guest bedroom.

After Thomas Jefferson's death, the family had to sell the home to pay his large debt. The second owner had the plantation for two years and then it was purchased by Uriah P. Levy. Levy owned the home for nearly 30 years. During the Civil War, the Confederates seized the home and sold it. A long legal battle ensued by the Levy family and was finally granted ownership to Jefferson Monroe Levy in 1879.

In 1923, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation purchased the home and still owns it to this day.

The home is open for tours daily. A portion of the home has been recently restored and more restoration is planned to return additional parts of the facility into its original state before it was set up for tours many years ago. Photographs are not allowed inside the home to protect some of the artwork.

You can purchase tout tickets at the visitor center, or you can reserve tickets on their website: (visit link)

I recommend purchasing tickets in advance as the tours can fill up fast. If not, then I recommend getting your tickets early in the day.

See the website for more information about the plantation and tours: (visit link)

Link to the Homestead: [Web Link] History if no Link: See long description Additional Parking or Point of Interest: N 38° 00.308 W 078° 27.137 Structure Type: Stone

Visit Instructions:
A clear picture of the Homestead, Marker or Plaque taken by you. And if you like a picture of you and GPS at the marker.
No Copyrighted images please.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   11/18/2018 wildernessmama visited it 12/29/2017 chrissyml visited it 08/05/2015 Moorephun visited it 04/25/2014 Weathervane visited it 09/08/2013 kJfishman visited it 07/14/2013 DocDTA visited it 10/21/2012 Eagle1977 visited it 05/10/2012 JL_HSTRE visited it 09/21/2011 archway visited it 08/07/2011 Team 57 visited it 06/05/2011 Nimblenod visited it 05/23/2011 electrical_chris visited it 04/02/2011 dc57 visited it 03/27/2011 Simplenfun visited it 05/29/2010 3newsomes visited it 04/30/2010 Sneakin Deacon visited it 04/07/2010 vhasler visited it 04/06/2010 LJParr visited it 01/22/2009 Tissa1020 & Foxhound visited it 09/10/2008 macdod visited it 07/14/2008 the girls and I visited it 07/03/2008 Hikenutty visited it 06/28/2008 Brisbane24 visited it 03/31/2008 SlvrFx visited it 10/09/2007 NorthWes visited it

View all visits/logs