Monticello Blog

The Chinese-inspired railings around Monticello’s terraces date to ca. 1940. After almost 80 years the elaborate wooden panels have weathered to the point where repairs are no longer feasible. While the existing railings will be missed, the project is an exciting opportunity to accurately reconstruct an important Jefferson-era feature.

No story illustrates Jefferson’s missionary zeal for plant experimentation or his devotion to American economic success better than his lifelong quest for upland rice.

Although it was hot and steamy, typical for a Charlottesville summer day, the excitement could be felt as Monticello’s West Lawn was packed with over 1,000 friends and families here to support and cheer for our new U.S. citizens.

This year’s Mandela Washington Fellows have officially arrived on the grounds at Monticello. The 25 young, bright African leaders arrived early yesterday morning. Their first stop at Monticello: a tour of the house!

A wood chip by itself is very modest. Small in size, light-weight, it could easily be lost or thrown away. Happily, the wood chip Thomas Jefferson cut from William Shakespeare’s chair during his 1786 trip to Stratford-upon-Avon comes with an explanatory note.

In my family, when it comes to plants named after people, we can't help but speak about them as if they are people too. Someone might ask, "What kind of clematis is that there?" and my mom would answer, "Oh, that's Nelly Moser, she's such a refined and dependable lady."

From November through January 2015, our intrepid crew of archaeological field assistants, led by Field Research Manager Crystal Ptacek, explored the North Dependency, the enclosed space under the North Terrace, whose construction was completed around 1809.

This winter, as part of the exciting multi-year effort to restore Monticello to its appearance in Jefferson’s time, we are recreating a log dwelling that likely once housed members of the enslaved Hemings family.