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Jacquelyn Allen

History 151

15 December 2018

Monticello

Monticello sits on a hilltop in Albemarle, Virginia. This property is considered today as

a national treasure and a beautiful piece of our history. This also is not far from Thomas

Jefferson’s birthplace. Thomas Jefferson grew up at Shadwell, which was one of the largest

tobacco plantations in Virginia at the time. When Jefferson turned 21 years old, he inherited a

couple thousand of acres of land that came with his family’s estate. He also inherited land that

included his favorite hilltop, called Monticello. This is where he decided to go ahead and build

his very own home.

Jefferson was actually one of America’s first and best architects of his time. He created,

rebuilt, and revised the house throughout most of his life since he inherited that land. It is

considered that no other president’s home shows a person’s personality better than Jefferson's

home on Monticello did. Jefferson began building his house in the year 1769 on the plantation

that he inherited from his father, Peter Jefferson, at age 21. The main house was actually not

finished until two years after. The original eight-room house was said to still be incomplete some

time in the 1780s, but even then after not being fully built, Jefferson’s house impressed his

European visitors with the uniqueness of its design. And what is incredible is that during all this

time, Jefferson had only known architecture through the books he read.

When it came to the design of the main house, Jefferson decided to use what is called

neoclassical design, which is how it was described by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea

Palladio. I would describe neoclassical architecture as how many of the government monuments

and buildings look, or even the Arc de Triomphe. Reworking the design through much of his
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presidency, Jefferson tried to include design qualities that were quite popular in late 18th-century

Europe. And he also put in some twists in the design with his own ideas.

Monticello rested on an approximately 850 foot high peak in the southwest mountains

that is just south of the Rivanna Gap. The name Monticello actually translates to “little

mountain” in Italian. Just right next to Jefferson’s house, there was Mulberry Row, which was

the plantation that included numerous different buildings for different functions; there were

quarters for the slaves; there were gardens for flowers, vegetables, and also Jefferson's own

fascinating experiments in plant breeding. And of course, land for the tobacco fields. To no

surprise, the cabins for slaves that would work the fields were much farther from the mansion.

Monticello had made such an impact; it was put on the back of our countries nickel, with

Jefferson on the front of course. In 1938, the United States Treasury made the decision to stop

making the Buffalo nickel. The Buffalo nickel, what was also known as the Indian Head nickel,

had just completed its mandatory twenty-five year circulation, as the article says. And because

the President at that time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was such a fan of Jefferson, the U.S. Mint

declared a contest that would decide the next design of the nickel that would honor Thomas

Jefferson.

The winning entry would not only be able to get to design the nickel how they wanted,

but also had the chance to win a generous $1,000 prize. This choice was normally the job of the

Chief Sculptor-Engraver of the Mint, but in this case for the Jefferson coin, the people were

given the opportunity to submit their personal designs. Three hundred and ninety contestants did

so. And we ended up with Jefferson on the front, and his home Monticello on the back.
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Works Cited

“Monticello.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Aug. 2010,

www.history.com/topics/landmarks/monticello.

“Monticello.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Nov. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello.

“Thomas Jefferson's Monticello--Presidents: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary.”

National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the interior,

www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/jefferson_monticello.html.

“Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.” Thomas Jefferson, a Brief Biography | Thomas Jefferson's

Monticello, www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jefferson-nickel.