Monticello - Virginia, United States
Posted by: Hikenutty
N 38° 00.646 W 078° 27.162
17S E 723631 N 4210072
Monticello is considered the greatest of the buildings designed by Thomas Jefferson. The house, built in the Georgian Colonial style, was built from 1796 with continuous additions through 1808.
Waymark Code: WM44AF
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 07/05/2008
Views: 44
The following excerpt is by Spiro Kostof from "A History of Architecture" p625:
In Monticello, his house outside Charlottesville, the Pantheon was domesticized in the great tradition of residential Pantheons, which included Chiswick and Palladio's Villa Rotonda. Sitting on a hillcrest small enough to be echoed in the swell of its central dome, Monticello had a cross-axial plan like its predecessors, but unlike them stretched itself horizontally reaching out toward the sweep of its site, while service units were buried underground. So, fixed to the land with its domed core but acknowledging with its out-stretched wings the open-ended expanse, and filled with gadgets of all kinds, Monticello was like the primordial American home—seeking stability but also freedom, respectful of European tradition but insistent on comfort and effort-saving devices, both conventional and one of a kind.
Monticello is more than just a house, though. It is a working plantation and vineyard. The home was saved from demolition in 1923 by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, who still owns and operates the property, after the federal government waived its third opportunity to acquire Monticello for the nation. The foundation purchased the house and land from the Levy family, stewards of the estate for 89 years.
About half a million people visit Monticello each year to tour the house and wander the gardens. Tour prices range from $15 for a basic tour of the house and grounds, up to $45 for special evening tours. Monticello is open every day of the year, including Sundays, except Christmas. The hours are as follows: March - October: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; November - February: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Entry is permitted until the posted closing time. The grounds are closed approximately one hour later