Tradition and Innovation: The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

Tradition and Innovation: The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello serves as an example of the classical tradition in American architecture as well as a touchstone in the history of housing innovation. Photo credit: Christopher Hollis

Thomas Jefferson's tombstone at Monticello reads: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." Jefferson wrote the epigraph himself, although his impressive list of accomplishments also includes diplomatic appointments to France, membership in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and service as the nation's third president (1801 to 1809). Ever the polymath, Jefferson also was an architect, and the home he designed for himself at Monticello has served as a touchstone in the history of American housing for two and a half centuries. The home's many innovations represent the continuing legacy of experimentation and improvement in American housing. Classical in its inspiration and design, Monticello also helped establish a legacy of classicism in American civic and domestic buildings that continues today. 

A Brief History of Monticello

Soon after inheriting, at age 21, the estate that would eventually become his home, Jefferson started sketching ideas for Monticello. Site preparations for Monticello began in 1768 with the clearing and leveling of the hilltop location. Construction commenced in 1771, with brickwork completed in 1778. As Monticello's construction proceeded, Jefferson and his family lived in the one-room South Pavillion between 1770 and 1774. The original plans for the house called for eight rooms on two floors; however, before the project's completion, Jefferson added an additional room on each side of the house. 

This house, however, would not be the Monticello that Americans are familiar with today. Jefferson served as U.S. trade minister and then as ambassador to France between 1784 and 1789, where he was greatly influenced by classical architecture and contemporary European architecture built in classical styles. After his return, Jefferson undertook a massive reconstruction of his home, inspired by what he had seen in Europe. These changes were so significant that historians refer to the earlier version of the home as Monticello I and the second version as Monticello II. 

In 1790, after returning from France, Jefferson began redesigning his home. The new Monticello would include 33 rooms in the main house, 4 rooms in the 2 pavilions, and 6 rooms under the south terrace as well as a dome inspired by his European travels — the first constructed for a private building in the United States. The work to transform Monticello commenced in 1796 and was largely completed by 1809, as Jefferson began his retirement following his presidency. The building featured two "dependencies" — wings of the building that held facilities for domestic operations such as workrooms, storage, and carriage bays. In the kitchen, located in the South Dependency, Jefferson could boast of some of the most modern innovations in cookery, including a stew stove that allowed for precise temperature regulation — a rare find in North America at that time. Other rooms included a smokehouse; an ice house; and a wine cellar, from which bottles could be transported discreetly to the dining room using a purpose-built dumbwaiter. 

A Legacy of Experimentation and Innovation

Monticello itself served as an embodiment of building innovation, with Jefferson adopting a scientific approach to incorporating functionality and performance. Over a 40-year period, Monticello was frequently modified and renovated. Jefferson included indoor ventilated privies in the home and designed various mechanical systems and labor-saving devices. He also created a system of louvers that could be mechanically adjusted as needed to help keep the house cool from the sun. Although Jefferson was not able to incorporate this system at Monticello, he did incorporate it at his second home, Poplar Forest. In his notebooks, Jefferson drew up plans for a fan to help keep the dining room cool, though historians are unable to confirm whether this system was implemented. 

This early sketch of Monticello shows Jefferson's longstanding admiration of classical architecture, while its difference from what exists today shows the profound influence his time in France had on his architectural imagination.

Monticello's hilltop location posed a significant challenge for getting water to the house. Jefferson had four cisterns built to collect rainwater from the roof, calculating their size from the average annual rainfall and the square footage of Monticello against a goal of providing 600 gallons of water daily. Like many experiments, the cisterns were not a complete success the first time around and leaked considerably. Over the years, Jefferson sought advice on the best methods for sealing the cisterns, lining them with cement on the recommendation of a sculptor from New York. While he eventually got two of the four to work reliably, even the added concrete did not fully prevent leaching. 

In the late 1790s, reflecting his interest in scientific pursuits, Jefferson installed a weathervane on the roof of Monticello that connected to a wind plate on the ceiling of the East Portico, allowing him to observe the wind direction from indoors. Displaying an interest in what today might be called data-driven design, he kept thermometers in every room and used the temperature readings to help guide his plans for additions and renovations. His experiments in building design sought solutions that promoted good lighting, improved airflow, and reduced noise throughout the house. 

Classical Architecture and the New Nation

For Jefferson, classical architecture expressed what Enlightenment thinkers called absolute or intrinsic beauty — the form of beauty achieved by harmonious color, good proportions, and restrained ornamentation. In particular, Jefferson saw in Roman architecture inspiration not just for his home, but also for a new architecture for the nation, validated through the millennia and appropriate for the new republican experiment in self-government. In a 1791 letter to Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, who created the plans for the nation's capital city, Jefferson suggested that the Capitol building should be based on "one of the models of antiquity which have had the approbation of thousands of years," and classical styles did indeed form the basis for much of the District of Columbia's federal architecture, including the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, the Supreme Court, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the Carnegie Library, and many others. At the time, Roman architecture also was understood to have a practical orientation; by embracing a variety of forms and plans, historical examples demonstrated the style's versatility. Today, the style is found throughout the United States in many state capitol buildings, courthouses, churches, schools, and other institutions as well as having an ongoing influence on home design.

An Enduring Legacy

Jefferson's heirs sold Monticello in 1831, and the home remained privately owned until the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation purchased the property in 1923. The foundation has been the owner and steward of the property since then, undertaking restoration work and sponsoring scholarly work at the site. In 1987, Monticello was named to the World Heritage List, and in 1993, Jefferson was posthumously awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in recognition of his "significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." Visitors can admire the classical beauty of Jefferson's home, tour its innovative features, and see in Jefferson's collection of scientific instruments, maps, books, and cultural artifacts the zealous curiosity of one of America's founding architects.

Sources:

David Bell. 1983. "Knowledge and the Middle Landscape: Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia," Journal of Architectural Education 37:2, 18–26.

Kenneth Hafertepe. 2000. "An Inquiry into Thomas Jefferson's Ideas of Beauty," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 59:2, 216–31.

Charley Miller. 2016. Monticello: The Official Guide to Thomas Jefferson's World. Washington, DC: National Geographic. 

Buford Pickens. 1975. "Mr. Jefferson as Revolutionary Architect," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 34:4, 257–79.

Thomas Jefferson Foundation. n.d. "Cooling Monticello," Accessed 16 May 2025.

Nancy Verell. 2017. "Cisterns," Thomas Jefferson Foundation blog, 1 March. Accessed 16 May 2025. 

Danielle S. Willkens. 2022. "Design by 'Considerable Degree': Jefferson's Architecture as Applied Science," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 110:2, 167–94.