Jefferson's Monticello

Virginia’s Monticello was President Thomas Jefferson’s home for the last fifty-six years of his life. The author of the Constitution of the United States spent forty of those years building it, transforming it, tearing it apart, and putting it together again. He knew and loved every inch of the house and the land that surrounded it. Jefferson designed much of the property himself, and he supervised everything down to the last detail, from the half million bricks he had baked in his own kilns to the sewing of the crimson mantua counterpane he spread over his bed.

Nearly everything at Monticello was sold after Jefferson’s death in 1826. The mansion changed hands and eventually left the family until 1923, when it was acquired by a non-profit foundation, which undertook the heroic work of restoring the house and grounds. Here’s the story of the place Jefferson called home.