Date inscribed: 1987 Criteria: i, iv, vi
ICOMOS RECOMMENDATIONOther Reports:
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1. Specific location
a. Country
United States of America
b. State or Province
Virginia
c. Name of Property
Monticello; University of Virginia (Jeffersonian Precinct)
d. Exact location on map and indication of geographical coordinates
Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinates:
Monticello
NW 17 723190 4210890
NE 17 727710 4210520
SE 17 726040 4206690
SW 17 722830 4209540
University of Virginia-Jeffersonian Precinct
NW 17 719000 4212650
NE 17 719360 4212400
SE 17 719100 4212150
SW 17 718780 4212180
2. JURIDICAL DATA
a. Owners
Monticello:
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, Inc.
Charlottesville, Virginia
University of Virginia:
State of Virginia c/o President University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
b. Legal Status
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, Inc. is a private,
non-profit educational organization with an independent,
non-governmental governing board.
The Jeffersonian Precinct of the University of Virginia is part of
the landholdings of the University, a state-supported institution
largely supported by the State budget.
Both components of this nomination have been individually designated
by the Secretary of the Interior as National Historic Landmarks, the
highest form of historic recognition extended to non-Federal
properties by the United States Government.
National Historic Landmark designation does not limit the authorities
or the owners of properties, but does mandate their inspection and an
National Park Service report to the United States Congress of threats
to their historic integrity. In addition, no Federal funds may be
expended on or Federal licenses extended to projects that will affect
any National Historic Landmark without review of the project in
accord with Federal preservation law.
c. Responsible administration
Monticello is owned by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation,
Inc., a private, non-profit organization, and administered as a
national memorial and museum to keep alive the name and memory of
Thomas Jefferson. The Foundation's board of trustees consists of
twenty-one members.
The University of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia, as
owners of the Jeffersonian Precinct, are the principal agents with
regard to the administration of the site. They are advised on a
routine basis by the Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks and the
Virginia Art and Architectural Review Council. Within the University,
the property is controlled by the Board of Visitors, who are advised
by the recently-created Jeffersonian Restoration Advisory Board.
Preservation matters are addressed by the Architect for the Historic
Buildings and Grounds, the Department of Physical Plant, and the
School of Architecture.
3. DESCRIPTION AND INVENTORY
a. Description and Inventory
Monticello
The house at Monticello is located at the center of the hilltop on an
estate of 1,000 acres. The land owned and administered by the Thomas
Jefferson Memorial Foundation includes 1,900 acres, all of which is
part of the original tract of land owned by Thomas Jefferson. (Under
Thomas Jefferson's ownership, the property measured 5,000 acres.)
The house is constructed of red brick and white wood trim. It
measures 110'2" in length from north to south and 87'9" in width from
east to west. Its height is 44'7". The east facade features the main
entrance portico. The entrance is marked by a triangular pediment
supported by four Doric columns finished in sand paint running across
the front. The central portico is flanked on either side by two bays
of windows. At the first floor are long windows. Above, at the second
floor, are short windows placed at the floor level. The third floor
rooms are located in the center of the building and are lighted with
skylights.
The west facade, crowned with the dome, is the most photographed view
of the house. The dome is placed above a projecting portico, composed
of four Doric columns, also originally finished in sand paint,
running across the front and two columns at the sides. The dome is
slightly oblong, measuring 31' on the east-best line and 28' on the
north-south line. The dome rises 18'9" from the base to the oculus. A
circular window is located on each side of the drum of the octagonal
dome, except for a semi-circular window above the pediment. Sheet
metal covers the dome as well as the roof of the house.
The partially subterranean wings containing storage areas and support
services extend out from the sides of the house and are covered at
the first floor level by terraces with wood flooring. From the side
elevations to the point of intersection with the extensions running
to the west, the wings measure 11' wide and 66'2" long. The leg
extending to the west at a 90 degree angle from the narrower wing
measures 22' across and 142'3" long, including the brick pavilion at
the terminus. Each pavilion measures 21' square.
The first floor of the house is made up of two central rooms, with
four major spaces on each side. From the east entrance, one enters
the large entrance hall. Moving to the west, the entrance hall opens
into the parlor through the glass double door, both of which open
when one door is moved. The parlor best wall is octagonal, mirroring
the shape of the dome above. To the north of this axis are the dining
room, the tea room, and two small bedrooms. To the south are
Jefferson's bedroom, sitting room, library, and study. A piazza leads
from the sides of the house to the north and south terraces above the
support wings.
The major rooms on the first floor are replete with decorative and
mechanical features as well as furnishings which make the house
unique among neoclassical villas. For the major rooms, Jefferson
selected designs for cornices and friezes that were derived from
classical Roman buildings as published in architectural books. The
designs are associated with the fertility of the earth and religious
symbols. Jefferson's bed was placed in the alcove between his bedroom
and library so that he could enter either room after awakening. In
the dining room, mechanical dumb waiters were built into either side
of the mantel to facilitate the transport of wine from the wine
cellar.
The upper floors are reached through two small stairways, each 24"
wide, which were little more than lateral passageways. On the second
floor are five bedrooms, two on the northern side and three on the
southern side. The rooms are connected by a mezzanine that is visible
from the first floor entrance hall. On the third floor are three
additional bedrooms and a large dome room.
An irregular oval inner roundabout walk, bordered with flowers, is
sited to the west of the house. Groves of trees were planted between
the inner roundabout and the outer roundabout. On a slope extending
to the south are located vegetable gardens, vineyards, and orchards.
University of Virginia
The Jeffersonian Precinct of the University of Virginia covers a plot
of land measuring 28 acres. The complex is situated on an elevated
site, with a gentle slope running down toward the south. The original
plan for the University consists of a U-shaped configuration of
buildings, with the L Rotunda placet at the northernmost part of the
curve. Rows of five pavilions with connecting dormitory rooms run
along the east and west sides of the central Lawn and terminate at
the foot of the Rotunda. Paralleling the two inner ranges are rows of
outer ranges of dormitory rooms and eating facilities. The ground
between the inner and outer ranges are devoted to gardens bounded by
serpentine walls.
The Rotunda measures 78' wide and is designed of pure geometric
shapes with dimensions one-half those of the Pantheon. The height of
the dome is determined by the diameter of the plan. The circle of the
Rotunda is placed tangent to the floor of the basement in order to
differentiate its height from that of the Pantheon. From the Lawn,
the Rotunda is entered through a portico made up of six Corinthian
columns supporting a triangular pediment. The portico extends out
from the building by four rows of Corinthian columns. The drum of the
Rotunda is constructed of red brick and white wood trim. The dome is
built of tile, roofed in tin plate, and surfaced internally with
plaster. The width of the Rotunda walls is 2'8".
The ten pavilions are numbered I to X, with the odd numbers on the
west and the even numbers on the east. They represent the ten
original separate schools, each with classrooms, professors' living
quarters, and single story dormitories. The ten pavilions are
connected by a continuous loggia which offers shelter from the
weather and screens the utilitarian dormitories from view. Each of
the pavilions is designed with elements drawn from classical models
as published by Palladio, Fréart de Chambray, and Charles Errard.
Each of the pavilions is different, thereby offering a separate
lesson in classical orders and architecture. For example, Pavilion
VIII provides an example of the Corinthian architectural order of the
Diocletian Baths as interpreted in Chambray's pattern book.
The widths of the pavilions of the inner ranges facing onto the Lawn
vary from 38 feet (Pavilion II) to 46 feet (Pavilions I and V). In
order to create an illusion of distance along the ranges, the
pavilions nearer the Rotunda are sited closer to each other than
those farther from the Rotunda. For example, Pavilion II, near the
foot of the Rotunda, is 64' from Pavilion IV, whereas Pavilion VIII
is 117' from Pavilion X. The length of the gardens in between the
inner and outer ranges to the east side of the Lawn is 174'. The
length of the gardens in between the inner and outer ranges on the
west side is 152'. The difference between the length of the gardens
is compensated for by the width of the buildings of the outer ranges,
which vary from 38' to 44' on the east side to 52' to 61' on the west
side.
Three stories were built into the Rotunda. The first two stories
consist of oval rooms. A dome room is located at the third story.
Lined with rows of trees, the Lawn measures 740' in length and 192'
in width. The Lawn is terraced in gradual steps from the north to the
south. The tree plantings are not original and efforts are underway
to determine and reinstate the original design concept. The
Jeffersonian Precinct is separated from the rest of the University by
roads on the west, north, and east sides and by a wide walkway on the
south side.
b. Maps and/or Plans
The following item appears with the signature page of this
nomination:
United States Geological Survey Map (Scale 1: 24,000) showing
the locations of Monticello and the Jeffersonian Precinct at the
University of Virginia.
The general plan of Monticello and the Jeffersonian Precinct at the
University of Virginia are appended to this nomination.
c. Photographic and/or Cinematographic Documentation
Illustrations appear at the end of this nomination. A set of color
slides of historical and current views of the buildings comprising
Monticello and the Jeffersonian Precinct of the University of
Virginia are also included; most are slide views of the prints
submitted. All slide illustrations may be reproduced without
permission. However, copyright remains with Monticello, the
University of Virginia, or, as noted, Michael Bailey. Copies of
slides should be credited to Monticello, the University of Virginia,
or Michael Bailey, unless otherwise noted.
d. History
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was one of the geniuses of eighteenth
century neoclassical architecture. His architectural works were an
integral part of the neoclassical movement, but their adaptation to
the convenience, ideals, and requirements of the new nation made them
uniquely Jeffersonian. Jefferson's use of Roman classical forms
initially was inspired by a love of classical language, philosophy,
and arts gained through books. He was so enamored of classical
literature that, in his lifetime, he read more of it than the average
professional classicist. Jefferson also desired to raise American
architecture to a level comparable to European architecture. During
five years in Paris, from 1784 to 1789, Jefferson studied both Roman
buildings and the French use of Roman orders in new architecture. He
returned to the United States with these lessons and transformed his
house at Monticello into a unique adaptation of the neoclassical
villa. The University of Virginia was Jefferson's last major
architectural project. The original campus represents an unusual
translation of Roman classical forms to a hilly site and to the
requirements of a community of scholars.
Jefferson's architecture is an integral part of his views of man,
society, and the infinite possibilities offered by the new nation.
Jefferson grew up in a community of Virginia plantation families that
had staked out settlements in the Virginia Piedmont and mountainous
region, away from the earlier aristocratic Tidewater settlements.
Through his upbringing and subsequent education at Williamsburg, he
joined the group of colonists who challenged British rule. His
political sympathies, literary talents, and political associations
led him to author the Declaration of Independence, advance the cause
of religious freedom, and work towards the improvement of the
education of the common man. After the Revolutionary War, Jefferson
served the nation in a variety of capacities, including a member of
Congress, Minister to Paris, Secretary of State, Vice President, and
President.
Jefferson lived in the full embrace of an international community of
savants. From 1797 to 1815, he served as President of the American
Philosophical Society. He maintained contact with learned societies
and intellectual leaders abroad by correspondence and through visits
individuals made to Charlottesville:
Jefferson received not only American, but also international
recognition as a man, and as a patron of learning. . . . In due
course he was associated with an extraordinary number of
important societies in various countries of Europe, as he had
long been with the chief learned, and almost all the
agricultural, societies of America. . . . His election, December
28, 1801, as an associé étranger of the Institute of
France. . . may best be attributed to his reputation in France
as the most conspicuous American intellectual.[1]
Jefferson's accomplishments as a statesman and diplomat have
guaranteed him a starring role in world history. However, his
greatest intellectual energies and original talents were devoted to
architecture and his two greatest architectural works, Monticello and
the University of Virginia. Both properties were visited and admired
because they were associated with Jefferson; they were in themselves
outstanding works of architecture; they represented unique
adaptations of eighteenth century neoclassical forms, and, they are
symbolic of man's universal aspirations for freedom, self-
determination, and self-fulfillment.
Thomas Jefferson and His Architectural Works
Thomas Jefferson's architectural output covered a range of
buildings--from a state capitol building to a university and numerous
houses. In an era in which major buildings in America were designed
by craftsmen and builders, Jefferson's accomplishments in this area
alone have left an indelible mark on history. Given his
accomplishments in other areas of endeavor, the quality and quantity
of his architectural work is all the more extraordinary.
Jefferson's first architectural designs were for his own house,
Monticello, a project that occupied his attention from the late 1760s
up to his death in 1826. In 1785, while in Paris, Jefferson was asked
by an oversight board for the new State Capitol for Virginia at
Richmond to provide advice and superintend its construction. For the
State Capitol, Jefferson asked Clérisseau to provide a model of the
Maison Carrée at Nîmes. Based on the model, Jefferson drew a plan
adapting the interior to legislative, executive, and judiciary
functions and altering the portico. The Virginia State Capitol is
described as the "first adaptation of a temple for a modern public
building not only in America, but in the world." [2]
Drawn into the plans for the new national capital city, Jefferson
submitted plans for the city itself and for the Capitol. After his
return from Paris in 1789, Jefferson provided advice on the plans for
several houses in Virginia, including Belle Grove, Barboursville, and
Edgehill. In 1806, Jefferson designed a retreat house for his own
use, an unusual octagonal building he called Poplar Forest. Commenced
in 1814, the University of Virginia was Jefferson's last major
architectural project. It was also the project that best symbolized
his hopes for the nation's future.
Monticello
The land incorporated in Thomas Jefferson's inheritance from his
father included the little 867-foot high mountain across the Rivanna
River that he called Monticello. The hill was familiar to Jefferson.
He had enjoyed the views from it for years. It served as the setting
for Jefferson's "essay in architecture." The design for Monticello
had it roots in the early 1760s when Jefferson lived in Williamsburg
and observed the town's architecture. The house he designed, built,
and remodelled reflected his studies of architecture over a period of
forty years. His tastes in architecture were influenced by his love
of Roman and Greek philosophy, literature, art, and architecture.
Jefferson arranged to have the top of the hill levelled in 1768, the
year in which designs for the house were initiated. The first design,
made about 1769, was influenced by Andrea Palladio. In the central
section of a two-story portico, Doric columns of the first story
supported Ionic columns of the second story. The floor plan featured
octagonal projections on the west, north, and south sides. The house
consisted of a central parlor. To the north were a dining room and
bow room. To the south were a bedroom and dressing room. On the
second floor was the library above the parlor, with bedrooms on
either side.
Construction on the house proceeded slowly. By 1772, the year of his
marriage, only a one-room pavilion was habitable. By the early 1770s,
Jefferson had worked out a plan for the supporting buildings whereby
they would be placed under one roof. The succession of rooms
containing the kitchen, pantries, laundry, servants quarters, and
storage facilities, were placed in two L-shaped blocks connected to,
but below the main house. Each wing terminated in a square pavilion.
At the first floor level of the house, the service wings were covered
with terraces.
The house was left unfinished through much of the Revolutionary War
period. By 1782, the first Monticello was completed sufficiently that
after a visit, Frenchman Marquis de Chastellux observed that the
house resembled no other in America and remarked, "we may safely aver
that Mr. Jefferson is the first American who has consulted the fine
arts to know how he should shelter himself from the weather." [3]
Jefferson's stay in Paris between 1784 and 1789 provided him with an
opportunity to study Roman and French architecture first-hand. France
was experiencing a change of ideas and of taste. The influence of the
Enlightenment produced a strong reaction again Rococo which
emphasized the play of curves and proliferation of ornament. The
trend toward classical ideas with clear and simple forms was
expedited by the excavation of Pompeii starting in 1738 and
Herculaneum in 1748 and the discovery of Greek temples. This movement
was spurred by collectors of antiques and proponents of Neo-
Classicism. It was reinforced by whose who harked back to the
grandeur of Louis XIV, the Sun King. Out of these forces, a new
vision of antiquity developed which affected French architecture up
until the French Revolution, which turned architecture toward a
Romantic spirit. This atmosphere of neoclassicism as reflected in the
hotels and houses of the aristocratic world proved a revelation to
Jefferson.
In the new French buildings, Jefferson observed:
All the new and good houses are of a single story --that is of
the height of 16 or 18 feet generally, and the whole of it
given to rooms of entertainment; but in the part where there are
bedrooms they have two tiers of them from 8 to 10 feet high
each, with a small private staircase. By this means great
staircases are avoided, which are expensive and occupy a space
which would make a good room in every story. [4]
The Hôtel de Salm, designed by Pierre Rousseau in 1784, was an
influential townhouse with a prominent exterior dome over the center
front room. Because Jefferson admitted to being "violently smitten"
with its design, the Hôtel de Salm is considered to be the prototype
for the west front of Monticello.
The simplicity of the French villas appealed to Jefferson and he was
no longer satisfied with the house as he had designed it. He
remodelled Monticello accordingly. In French architecture, Jefferson
made notes of features that were later adapted to the redesign at
Monticello, including the dome over the parlor. The addition of a
dome caused the loss of space, but this loss was made up by doubling
the width of the house. The new section included a mezzanine and
alcove bedrooms, features of French architecture which Jefferson
admired.
Although remodelling work did not commence until 1796, Jefferson had
started planning for it as early as 1784. The rebuilding was
completed in 1809, the year he retired from public life. The new
floor plan of the house was double the width of the old. The main
high rooms, used for entertainment, were located on the west side.
The two stories of low rooms were placed on the east and at the north
and south ends.
The main floor was connected with the second and third floors by
steep, narrow stairs. The bedrooms on the upper floors were tucked
under the eaves, with windows at floor level. At the top of the
house, above the principal room to the west, Jefferson placed the
dome. The dome was the first to be built on any American house. The
design for the dome was based on the ancient temple of Vesta in Rome,
illustrated in Palladio. The overall effect of the house is of a
one-story structure, except for the section covered by the dome.
The simplicity of Monticello belies the complex substructure of
support services extending out on the steep fall of the ground. The
location of these rooms under the wings is barely noticeable beyond
the central block and the two pavilions strung out at the ends of the
wings.
The entrance hall, located at the east end of the building served as
a reception room and a museum. From the entrance hall, visitors most
often moved toward the west, into the parlor, the most formal room in
the house. The southern section of the main floor consisted of
Jefferson's private rooms: the bedroom, study, library, and sitting
room. The northern section contained the dining room, tea room, and
two small bedrooms. The second floor contained five small bedrooms.
Three additional bedrooms and the dome room were located on the third
floor.
Monticello originally stood at the center of a 5,000-acre estate.
Much of the land was devoted to a working farm where tobacco, corn,
wheat, and other crops were planted. On the land closest to the
house, Jefferson sought to create an ornamental garden and, beyond
it, a ferme ornée. The house was located in the center of a series of
circuitous roads called roundabouts. In his retirement, Jefferson
planned an extensive scheme of flower beds on the west side of the
house. Elsewhere on the grounds, he planted numerous shade and
flowering trees and a vegetable garden where more than 250 varieties
of vegetables and herbs were planted.
University of Virginia
Jefferson began to design the University of Virginia in 1805 when he
wrote to L. W. Tazewell of the Virginia legislature that large
buildings for American colleges were inconvenient, likely to be
destroyed by fire, and might harbor infection. He also disapproved of
the common quad layout of Cambridge and Oxford. He suggested instead
that a university should not resemble a house but a village, an
"academical village." [5]
lt was not until a decade later, from 1814 to 1817, that Jefferson
committed his ideas to paper. His earliest known plan called for a
series of pavilions connected by a continuous colonnade laid out
around three sides of a large lawn. In 1817, Jefferson sought advice
on his design from William Thornton and Benjamin Henry Latrobe-
Thornton suggested the use of columns instead of piers for the
arcades. Latrobe suggested that pavilions be placed at the corners of
the square and that the central pavilion become the dominant focal
point of the layout.
In adjusting the design to the topography, Jefferson narrowed the
width of the Lawn and sited the pavilions so that the nearer the
pavilions were to the Rotunda, the closer they were to each other.
Two outer ranges to the east and west were intended for student
dormitories and eating facilities. The ground in between the inner
and outer ranges were devoted to professors' gardens and dormitory
gardens.
In devising the layout for the University of Virginia, Jefferson was
likely influenced by a number of sources. One source of influence may
have been the books on educational theory that called for a central
role of the library in the university. These books included E. D.
Clarke's Greek Marbles (1809) and Charles Kelsall's
Phantasm of a University (1814).[6] At the University of
Virginia, the library, rather than the traditional church or chapel,
dominated the site plan. Other sources for the plan of the University
included several eighteenth century hospitals in England. Jefferson's
plan for the University of Virginia can also be ascribed to
Marly-le-Roi, an influential group of buildings that rivalled
Versailles. At Marly, individual pavilions for favored courtiers were
grouped in two lines leading up to the casino of the Roi
Soleil. [7]
The professors' pavilions that punctuated the arcades were each built
according to a different design so that they would serve as "models
of taste and good architecture."[8] They were numbered I to X, with
the even numbered pavilions on the east and the odd-numbered ones on
the west. Four of the pavilions were in the Doric order, four in the
Ionic, and two in the Corinthian. The details for each of the orders
were derived from ancient buildings as published by Palladio, Charles
Errard, and Fréart de Chambray. The design of the porticos were
either based on temple fronts or porticos in publications or on
buildings that Jefferson had seen in Europe.
The Rotunda was modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, a building that
Jefferson never saw but knew from engravings in Palladio. The
Pantheon served as a model for many buildings in Europe in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Three stories were built
into the Rotunda. At the top was the principal dome room. Beneath it
were two stories with oval rooms.
The cornerstone of the first building of the complex was laid in
1817. By 1824, the Rotunda was far enough along for Jefferson to
entertain the Marquis de Lafayette there. Students were admitted in
1825.
Over the years, the University of Virginia complex witnessed a number
of important changes. One was the construction of an annex to the
rear of the Rotunda in the mid-nineteenth century after designs by
Robert Mills. In 1895, the Rotunda and annex were badly damaged by
fire. Stanford White prepared designs for the rebuilding of the
Rotunda and a new building to close the south end of the Lawn.
Footnotes
1. "Thomas Jefferson," Dictionary of American Biography.
2. Mark Girouard, "Monticello, Virginia, The Home of Thomas
Jefferson from 1771 to 1826," Country Life, 133 (January
17, 1963), p. 108.
3. Ibid., p. 107.
4. Ibid., p. 108.
5. Marcus Binney, "University of Virginia - I," Country
Life, 163 (January 12, 1978), p. 74.
6. For a discussion of the relationship between the University of
Virginia plan and proposals for educational reform, see Ibid, p.
77.
7. Fiske Kimball, "The Genesis of Jefferson's Plan for the
University of Virginia," Architecture, 48 (December
1923), p. 399.
8. Marcus Binney, "The University of Virginia - II," Country
Life, 163 (January 19, 1978), p. 143.
e) Bibliography
Adams, William Howard. Jefferson's Monticello. New York:
Abbeville Press, 1983.
Andrews, Wayne. Architecture, Ambition, and Americans. New
York: Harper & Row, 1955.
Beiswanger, William, "Thomas Jefferson," in Master Builders: A
Guide to Famous American Architects edited by Diane Maddex.
Washington, D.C.. The Preservation Press, 1985.
Binney, Marcus. "The University of Virginia - I," Country
Life, 163 (January 12, 1978), pp. 74-77.
Binney, Marcus, "The University of Virginia - II," Country
Life, 163 (January 19, 1978), pp. 142-145.
Chastellux, François-Jean, Marquis de. Travels in North America in
the Years 1780, 1781 and 1782. Chapel Hill: The University of
North Carolina Press, 1963.
Clark, Kenneth. Civilization: A Personal View. London: British
Broadcasting Corporation, 1969.
Dennis, Michael. Court & Garden: From the French Hotel to the City
of Modern Architecture. Cambridge, Mass.. The MIT Press, 1986.
Girouard, Mark. "Monticello, Virginia, The Home of Thomas Jefferson
from 1771 to 1826," Country Life, Vol. 133 (January 17, 1963),
pp. 106-110.
Kimball, Fiske. Thomas Jefferson Architect. Boston: The
Riverside Press, 1916.
Kimball, Fiske. "The Genesis of Jefferson's Plan for the University
of Virginia," Architecture, 48 (December 1923), pp. 397-400.
Lehman, Karl. Thomas Jefferson, American Humanist. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1947.
Malone, Dumas. Jefferson the Virginian. Boston: Little, Brown
and Company, 1948.
Middleton, Robin and David Watkin. Neoclassical and 19th Century
Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1980.
Mumford, Lewis. The South in Architecture. Neb York: Harcourt,
Brace & Cox, 1941.
Mumford, Lewis. Sticks and Stones. New York: Boni & Liveright,
1924.
Nicholay, J. G. "Thomas Jefferson's Home," The Century
Magazine, 34 (September 1887), pp. 643-653.
Nichols, Frederick Doveton. Thomas Jefferson's Architectural
Drawings. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1961.
Nichols, Frederick Doveton and James A. Bear, Jr. Monticello.
Monticello, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1982.
Nichols, Frederick Doveton and Ralph E. Griswold. Thomas Jefferson
Landscape Architect. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of
Virginia,
Pierson, William H., Jr. American Buildings and Their Architects:
Colonial and Neo-Classical Styles. Garden City: Anchor Books,
1976.
Rahner, B. L. Sketches of the Life, Writings, and Opinions of
Thomas Jefferson. New York, 1832.
Sale, Edith T. Interiors of Virginia Homes of Colonial Times.
Richmond: W. Byrd Press, Inc., 1927.
Schuyler, Montgomery. "A History of Old Colonial Architecture,"
Architectural Record, IV (January-March 1895), pp. 312-366.
Summerson, John, Architecture in Britain, 1530-1830. London:
Penguin Books, 1953.
"Thomas Jefferson," Dictionary of American Biography.
Wheeler-Bennett, John. Special Relationships: America in Peace and
War. London: Macmillan London Ltd., 1973.
4. STATE OF PRESERVATION/CONSERVATION
a. Diagnosis
Monticello
Monticello has been maintained as a historic house museum since 1923
when it was purchased by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation.
Between 1826, the year of Jefferson's death, and 1923, the property
was largely in the ownership of a member of the Levy family. The
Levys were admirers of Jefferson and maintained the property with the
expectation that someday it might be restored and refurnished.
Therefore, Monticello was never subjected to radical alterations by
unsympathetic owners or allowed to deteriorate beyond recognition.
The appearance of Monticello today reflects Jefferson's rebuilding of
the house, an effort that was completed in 1809. Between that year
and his death in 1826, the property was virtually unchanged except
for routine maintenance. Much of the development of the property's
landscape occurred between 1807, as Jefferson anticipated retirement
from public life, and 1815.
After Jefferson's death, his heirs were forced to sell the property
in order to pay off the debts he had accumulated. Through much of the
nineteenth century, Monticello was owned by a member of the Levy
family. In 1862, the Confederate government seized the property.
Litigation over its ownership continued for the next seventeen years
and resulted in the deterioration of the roof, gutters and window
sash. By the late 1870s when Jefferson Monroe Levy acquired the
property, it was described as in need of renovation. Levy upgraded
the condition of the property and prevented further deterioration.
The formation in 1923 of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation
marked the beginning of a new era for the property's fortunes. The
purpose of the Foundation was to restore the house and grounds to
their appearance in 1809, when Jefferson retired to Monticello, and
recover the original furnishings. During the first twelve years of
effort, the Foundation received title to the property but, due to
financial constraints, was unable to carry out restoration or
refurnishing work.
The major restoration work on Monticello, carried out between the
mid-1930s and the mid-1950s, returned Monticello to the period of
Jefferson occupancy and produced the building as it appears today.
Since that time, additional restoration work has been conducted to
discrete portions of the property, such as the restoration of the
dome room and paint research on the exterior surfaces, both of which
were carried out in the early 1980s.
Beginning in 1979, the Foundation board of trustees has supported
major archeological investigations on the grounds to locate roads,
gardens, and other man-made features. These investigations form the
basis of the restoration of the gardens and underscore the desire of
the Foundation to place the property in its proper environmental
context. Restoration of the grounds will also increase the
interpretive value of the property. Archeological investigations
continue to this day.
Today, with the exception of occasional moisture problems, Monticello
is structurally sound and in excellent condition. The property
withstands a large visitation. On an annual basis, more than half a
million people visit the property and walk through the rooms on the
first floor. The level of visitation makes heavy demands on the
property, necessitating a continuous effort to monitor its condition
and make repairs as necessary.
University of Virginia
The buildings designed by Thomas Jefferson for the University of
Virginia were essentially complete as a group by 1826. Since that
time, the buildings have been in continuous use. Only at the Rotunda
has there been remarkable physical change--in the 1850s, with the
large block-like addition to the north designed by Robert Mills; in
the 1890s, as Stanford White reconfigured both the interior and
exterior following a fire; and in the 1970s, when the interior
configuration of Jefferson's design was reestablished. Otherwise,
alterations to the building have been modest, the most extreme being
extensions to the rear of some pavilions.
Throughout the 160 years since completion, the Jeffersonian Precinct
has been treated on an equal basis with other University buildings.
The construction materials--wood, brick, stucco, stone, and
metal--were affected by the humid climate and neglect. The aging
process also affected the materials and exhausted the service life of
some systems, such as those for electrical wiring and plumbing. Some
alterations, such as rudimentary closet insertions, are now viewed as
damaging to the basically simple and elegant buildings. Fortunately,
destruction due to insects and settling is minimal.
The Jeffersonian Precinct still functions as a setting for all
aspects of university life, continuing Jefferson's dream of an
"academical village." Some one hundred students still live in the
rooms alongside the covered walkways. Professors still live in the
taller pavilions, which display along the Lawn ten lessons in
architectural detailing drawn from Roman classicism. In some cases,
classes are again being taught in one of the pavilions, as a
continuation of the original concept. The gardens behind the
pavilions are restorations, based on Jefferson's original garden
plans and carried out from the 1940s through the 1960s under the
auspices of the Garden Club of Virginia, that essentially reestablish
the essentials of the original plan. The interiors of the student
rooms were refurbished some thirty years ago.
Beginning in the late 1970s, the University's awareness of
accelerating decline within the Jeffersonian Precinct prompted urgent
requests for financial assistance from the General Assembly of the
Commonwealth of Virginia. In 1982, special deferred maintenance
funding, earmarked for the Jeffersonian Precinct, was forthcoming,
signaling a similar understanding by the state government. Subsequent
university actions establishing a special board to address matters of
fund-raising and curatorship and creating within the university an
architectural/curatorial post to handle preservation and restoration
work on the site have served to establish a comprehensive
preservation/restoration program.
The result of these events has been a rapid increase in activity at
the site. By the end of 1987, all roofs will be watertight. Attendant
restoration of wood roof and cornice members, where necessary, will
also be completed. By July 1986, extensive restoration work had been
carried out at two of the ten pavilions, Pavilions III and VIII.
Limited work has been conducted at five others. In all cases, the
work has resulted from the need to keep the buildings in constant
use, major repairs to pavilions being feasible only every decade, as
occupants change. Where more extensive efforts have been mounted,
sufficient research has been done to allow for well-documented
restorations.
Up to the present time, restoration work on the Jeffersonian Precinct
has been carried out based on research on discrete problems. However,
no plan exists to address the Precinct as a whole. In the summer of
1986, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded the University
530,000 toward the preparation of an historic structures report. It
is anticipated that from four to five years will be required to
prepare an exhaustive survey and analysis. In the meantime,
restoration work and research will be carried out simultaneously on a
project by project basis.
b. Agents responsible for preservation/conservation
Monticello
Monticello is owned by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation,
Inc., a private, non-profit organization, and administered as a
national memorial and museum to keep alive the name and memory of
Thomas Jefferson. The Foundation's board of trustees consists of
twenty-one members, some of whom are nationally-recognized
preservationists and scholars.
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia, as
owners of the property, are the principal agents with regard to the
care of the site. They are advised on a routine basis by the Virginia
Division of Historic Landmarks and the Virginia Art and Architectural
Review Council. Within the University, the property is controlled by
the Board of Visitors, who are advised by the recently-created
Jeffersonian Restoration Advisory Board. Preservation matters are
addressed by the Architect for the Historic Buildings and Grounds,
the Department of Physical Plant, and the School of Architecture.
c. History of preservation/conservation
Monticello
Monticello enjoys a unique position among historic houses in the
United States because of the availability of primary material
documenting the development of the property. This corpus of
manuscripts, largely in Jefferson's hand, covers every aspects of his
life at Monticello, including its buildings, landscaping, and
furnishings.
The period between 1809, when Jefferson retired from public life, to
1815, represents the peak in the appearance and condition of
Monticello. By 1809, the house was completed. Jefferson devoted much
of his time during the following six years to the development of the
grounds. After 1815, the level of activity lessened, a factor of the
deepening agricultural depression which adversely affected
Jefferson's finances.
After Jefferson's death in 1826, his family was forced to sell the
property and furnishings to pay off his debts. By 1829, no member of
the Jefferson family was left on the property. In 1831, the house and
550 acres of land were purchased by James Turner Barclay of Staunton,
Virginia. However, the reputation of Monticello drew many uninvited
visitors to the property, thereby hindering the Barclays ability to
use the house as a private residence.
In 1836, Uriah Phillips Levy of New York City purchased the property.
Levy was a naval officer and a Jefferson enthusiast who had inherited
a fortune. Levy held the view that houses of great men should be
preserved as monuments to their memory. He used Monticello was a
part-time residence and conscientiously maintained the house. In
1853, visitors to Monticello noted that the house was in good
condition and that Jefferson furniture was still in the house.
Upon Levy's death in 1862, Monticello was seized by the Confederate
government and sold as alien property. For the next seventeen years,
litigation over its ownership prevented its occupancy and resulted in
the deterioration of the roof, gutters, and sash.
Uriah Levy's nephew, Jefferson Monroe Levy, acquired Monticello in
1879, carrying on the family's interest in Jefferson and his home.
Levy set about renovation work and spent a portion of each year
living at Monticello. The Levy family is credited with sparing the
property from irrepairable damage.
By 1923, the 180th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birthday,
efforts to preserve Monticello for public visitation reached a
turning point. In that year, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation
was organized and chartered with the expressed purpose to preserve
and maintain Monticello as a national memorial to the genius and
patriotism of "the apostle of human freedom." The house and grounds,
then consisting of 600 acres, were sold by Jefferson Monroe Levy to
the Foundation in late 1923. For the next twelve years, financial
limitations prevented the initiation of restoration work.
Between the mid-1930s and the mid-195Os, the house was restored under
the direction of Milton L. Grigg and Fiske Kimball. During this
period, restoration work included the rebuilding of the terraces
based on Jefferson's drawings. In 1940, the Garden Club of Virginia
contributed funds toward the restoration of the gardens in the east
and west fronts. From 1953 to 1954, the floors of the house were
reinforced with steel beams. Temperature and humidity controls also
were introduced. In 1955, the exterior of the dome and roof was
restored.
Over the years of the Foundation's ownership, many of the original
furnishings have been recovered. Today, the furnished rooms contain
only a few non-original pieces.
Since 1979, extensive archeological investigations have been carried
out, resulting in the restoration of the roundabouts and roads dating
from the Jefferson period as well as the gardens, the vineyards, and
the Grove.
In the past few years, restoration work has focused on discrete
projects and has been based on research and materials analysis. In
the 1980s, the exterior paint on the east and west portico columns
was analyzed to gain insight into their appearance during Jefferson's
occupancy. Under twenty-two layers of paint, analysis revealed that
the original finish was sand painting. This finish was reinstated. In
addition, analysis of the exterior and interior sash finishes
resulted in their being refinished in mahogany varnish. More
recently, the interior dome room has been repainted a yellow color to
match the original finish.
University of Virginia
Prior to the 1940s, maintenance accorded the buildings in the
Jeffersonian Precinct was conducted in a similar manner as other
University buildings. The buildings were maintained as residences or
academic buildings. Following the fire of 1895, the Rotunda was
rebuilt by New York architect Stanford White, who also added a
portico on the north side to replace the damaged Robert Mills
addition. To the south of the Lawn, White designed a classroom
structure. The White additions to the university plan were made with
full understanding of the sources of Jefferson's inspiration. For
example, White designed the interior of the Rotunda to more closely
resemble the interior of the Pantheon, the building which inspired
Jefferson's design of the Rotunda's exterior.
>From the 1940s through 1960s, the garden wall layout was restored,
based on Jefferson's original garden plans, essentially to the
original configuration. In the 1950s, interest in the Jeffersonian
Precinct and its care were fostered by professors in the School of
Architecture, though there was a general lack of funding to perform
more than maintenance. Refurbishing of student rooms and limited
remodelling of several pavilions, however, were conducted in the
1950s.
Completed in 1976, the restoration of the Rotunda's interior to its
configuration as designed by Jefferson was carried out in conjunction
with the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. Little
change was made to the exterior, which still exhibits Stanford
White's north portico and surrounding deck. However, the interior was
reversed to its original appearance, which had been lost in White's
arrangement, and the dome room was returned to its original height.
The reversal of the Rotunda's interior sparked a debate between the
supporters of the restoration of Jefferson's design and the advocates
of the retention of the White design who argued that it had achieved
a significance of its own. Given today's preservation approach which
seeks to retain the original building and its significant accretions,
it is possible that the 1976 restoration would not be carried out in
the same way today.
In the late 1970s, the University initiated a roof repair program
that has continued until the present time; it will be finished by
late 1987. This effort addressed serious problems of disrepair of the
pavilions.
Subsequent participation by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth
of Virginia indicates a growing awareness beyond the University of
the need for more than maintenance. This awareness encouraged the
establishment in 1984 of the Jeffersonian Restoration Advisory Board
made up of nationally-recognized professional advisors and
philanthropists to further the spirit of preservation for the
Jeffersonian Precinct.
Due to the combined efforts of all groups, major repairs beyond the
roofing program have been made to five pavilions (I, IV, V, VII, IX).
Extensive restoration work has occurred at Pavilions III and VIII. In
both cases, analysis of original finishes and finishing techniques
paralleled the training of craftsmen to replicate such features as
the original graining of pine doors to resemble mahogany. Similarly,
special training in masonry techniques has been offered. Alterations
to heating, cooling, and electrical systems were made to render them
safe, up-to-date and as invisible as possible.
d. Means for preservation/conservation
Monticello
Funding
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation operates Monticello with an
annual operating budget of $3,900,000. These funds are derived from
two major sources. The first source comes from the admission fees
paid by the more than half a million visitors to the property on an
annual basis. Monticello enjoys the position of being one of the most
heavily visited historic house museums under private ownership in the
nation. The second major source of funds is the gift-shop sales. The
Foundation maintains two gift-shops--one on the grounds of Monticello
and the other at the base of the hill in space leased by the
Foundation in the Thomas Jefferson Visitors Center.
Because the Foundation currently receives more funds than are needed
to operate the property, it makes yearly grants to the University of
Virginia to support the purchase of the manuscripts related to
Jefferson and Monticello; to support professorships in government,
history, and architecture; and to provide students with educational
enrichment programs. Other joint efforts of Monticello and the
University of Virginia include cosponsored conferences, internship
programs with the School of Architecture, lectureships, major awards
programs in law and architecture, and fellowships for junior and
senior faculty and graduate students. The cooperative relationship
between Monticello and the University of Virginia underscores the
strong bond between the two properties.
In the next few years, the Foundation expects to expand its
educational role through exhibits, publications, and conferences. In
order to support this expanded role, the Foundation necessarily will
seek new avenues of funding.
Personnel
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation employs several key
professional staff members: the Director, Architectural Historian,
Director of Archeology, Curator, Historian, Superintendent of
Gardens, and Restoration Specialist. Most of these individuals are
recognized scholars as demonstrated through research work and
publications. Under these key individuals is a larger staff, which at
peak season, numbers approximately 200 individuals. The work of the
staff is guided by the Foundation's board of trustees, several
members of which are distinguished figures in preservation and
history.
University of Virginia
Funding
Funding for the current preservation efforts comes from three
sources: the University of Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia,
and private parties. The last category includes contributions and
grants from private individuals, trusts, and the corporate sector.
The Commonwealth of Virginia funding normally occurs on a biannual
basis.
Since 1985, the University has greatly accelerated its financial
support of maintenance and restoration activities in the Jeffersonian
Precinct to a level of $1,000,000 per year. These funds cover the
cost of building materials, staff time, research efforts, training of
craftsmen, and materials analysis. Additional funds need to be raised
to support capital outlays. A portion of the monies now being raised
by the Jeffersonian Restoration Advisory Board is being used to
establish an endowment, to assure the future maintenance of the
property. The initial endowment fund target is $5,000,000.
Personnel
Within the University of Virginia, the Jeffersonian Precinct is
managed as a residential and educational property by the Department
of the Physical: Plant and the Housing Division, both of which employ
a total staff of approximately 650. Within this total, a staff of 100
is devoted primarily to the Jeffersonian Precinct. Some eighty
craftsmen are assigned to work on the precinct, recognizing the
special skills needed for these buildings. The use of a permanent
staff, specially trained to do all work required at the site, helps
the University maintain a continuity of methodology. Coordinating the
various interested parties and the work undertaken on the
Jeffersonian Precinct is the responsibility of the Architect for the
Historic Buildings and Grounds, a position housed in the Department
of Physical Plant.
e. Management plans
Monticello
To date, the restoration work carried out at Monticello--on the
house, outbuildings, landscaping, and furnishings--has been based on
the abundant primary documentation available to the staff and
scholars. The direction of the efforts over the past decades has been
guided by the Foundation's board of trustees with input from
specialists.
Today, the Foundation is initiating the preparation of a master plan
that will guide the development of the property in the future. The
master plan will ensure that the restoration and maintenance
decisions will enhance the condition and interpretation of the
property that so powerfully evokes Jefferson's presence.
University of Virginia
Management of the buildings in the Jeffersonian Precinct is vested in
the Department of Physical Plant and is directed by the Architect for
the Historic Buildings and Grounds. The Department of Physical Plant
manages the property according to a continuous program of maintenance
and repair. The presence of specialized staff brings to this process
the special understanding pertaining to the buildings in the
Jeffersonian Precinct.
A comprehensive historic structures report, funded in part by a grant
from the National Endowment for the Arts, will provide the University
with a basis for evaluating the condition of the ensemble and for
planning for its restoration and maintenance.
5. JUSTIFICATION
a) Cultural property
Applicable criteria:
The Thomas Jefferson Thematic Nomination, consisting of Monticello
and the Jeffersonian Precinct of the University of Virginia, is
proposed for inscription on the World Heritage list under criteria:
(I) as a unique artistic achievement, a masterpiece of creative
genius; (IV) as an outstanding example of a type of a building or
architectural ensemble which illustrates a significant stage in
history; and (VI) because Monticello and the University of Virginia
are directly and tangibly associated with ideas, beliefs, and events
of outstanding universal significance.
Summary
Of all Jefferson's architectural creations, Monticello and his
original plans for the University of Virginia best represent the
fullness of his architectural genius. Each is a telling example of
his views on neoclassicism, his ideal of a Roman villa in a pastoral
setting, and the need to reconcile architectural form with utility.
Both properties commanded the attention of the international
community. Impressions of them have been recorded in numerous
publications during and after Jefferson's lifetime.
Although located far from the sophisticated cities of Europe or those
of the Eastern seaboard of America, Monticello and the University of
Virginia represent Jefferson's efforts to produce-architecture that
would rise above the provincialism of most American buildings, win
the respect and admiration of the world, and serve as models for the
edification of future architects. With these buildings, he succeeded
in producing architectural landmarks that not only won the praise of
scholars and observers but also are celebrated by the architectural
profession as among the country's proudest architectural
achievements.
Charlottesville, Virginia, is the location for both properties. The
hill overlooking Jefferson's boyhood home at Shadwell and the town
served as the location for Jefferson's house. When the University of
Virginia was planned by Jefferson, he arranged for it to be located
in Charlottesville, close to his home, which he viewed as a healthier
location than the older Tidewater area. The proximity of the
University of Virginia to Monticello also allowed him to oversee in
minute detail its construction according to his designs. He was,
therefore, able to impress upon the University the full force of his
principles and taste, as he was with Monticello. This level of
involvement was not equalled in his other major public buildings
projects or major residences in Virginia, with the exception of his
small retreat, Poplar Forest.
The relationship and interdependence of the two properties is
recorded by Philip Alexander Bruce, who in his History of the
University of Virginia (1920) wrote:
Not since the completion of Monticello had he possessed such an
opportunity to show his extraordinary aptitude for architecture,
without being trammeled by others. In his designs for the
Capitol at Richmond, and public edifices in Washington and
private residences in Virginia, there was always someone with
the power to modify or push aside his recommendations. In this
new field, he was quite as unhampered as he was in constructing
his own house. [1]
Monticello and the University of Virginia are also two Jefferson
properties which retain a high level of structural and artistic
integrity. They fully convey an authentic picture of Jefferson's
original concepts, unlike properties such as the State Capitol of
Virginia, which lacks the same level of involvement by Jefferson and
which has been much altered from its original design. The high level
of integrity for the two properties is remarkable considering the
lack of scholarly curatorship of Monticello before 1923 and the
continuous use of the University of Virginia for academic purposes
since 1825. Although Monticello receives more than half a million
visitors each year and the University's Rotunda suffered a major fire
in 1895, both retain their essential Jeffersonian form such that they
serve as destinations for architectural pilgrimages undertaken by
visitors from around the world.
CRITERION I: A unique artistic achievement, a masterpiece
of creative
genius.
Both Monticello and the University of Virginia have been objects of
intense scrutiny and praise by Visitors and scholars from the United
States and abroad. Jefferson's genius has been celebrated in major
publications, conferences, and exhibitions. Few other American
houses, other than Monticello, have been included with greater
frequency in world architectural histories as a point of both
comparison and contrast with other neoclassical residences of Europe.
The University of Virginia has drawn praise for its sheer beauty and
for its representation as a unique adaptation of a Roman villa form
to a community of scholars.
Monticello
The first design for Monticello, completed about 1769, resulted in a
building that reflected Jefferson's ideas about architecture derived
from books. The first Monticello was visited in 1782 by the Marquis
de Chastellux, a sophisticated French nobleman. The French traveller
sought out Jefferson as a leader of the American Revolution. He was
taken with the house, describing it in detail and praising it for
being the most handsome private residence in America. He also cited
Jefferson as the first American who consulted the standard
architectural publications, readily available in Europe but scarce in
the new republic, in the design of his house. The reflection in the
house of the creator's genius was an aspect of its uniqueness that
did not escape the Marquis:
. . . no object has escaped Mr. Jefferson, and it seems, indeed
as though, ever since his youth, he had placed his mind, like
his house, on a lofty height, whence he might contemplate the
whole universe. [2]
Many years later, the distinguished British architectural historian
John Summerson wrote of Monticello in his comprehensive study of
British architecture from 1530 to 1830:
Monticello in the first state showed more real thought than any
previous American building. . . . [3]
Of the first Monticello, famed art historian Kenneth Clark, in his
1969 panorama of world civilization, remarked:
It [Monticello] must have been an extraordinary apparition in
that wild landscape. Jefferson made it up out of the book of the
great Renaissance architect Palladio. . . [4]
The comparability of the first Monticello, a full creative step below
the second version, with architecture abroad is underscored by its
inclusion in the 1977 publication, Neoclassical and 19th Century
Architecture, written by British architectural historians Robin
Middleton and David Watkin, a book in the series "History of World
Architecture." The first Monticello is described as a noteworthy
example in the chapter on "Later Classical and Italianate
Architecture" and its design is published on the book's cover. [5]
The second Monticello is praised by historians Middleton and Watkin
as more "interesting and complex," with "varied and original
planning." [6]
Completed in 1809, the second Monticello embraced Jefferson's first
hand studies of architecture in Europe and his adaptation of this
knowledge to the requirements of living. In 1796, as the remodelling
of the house was taking shape, Monticello was visited by the French
exile Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt who viewed the new design as
fully comparable with like houses in Europe:
Monticello, according to its first plan, was infinitely superior
to all other houses in America in point of taste and
convenience; but at that time Mr. Jefferson had studied tastes
and the fine arts in books only. His travels in Europe have
supplied him with models; he has appropriated them to his
design; and his new plan, the execution of which is already much
advanced, will be accomplished before the end of the next year,
and then his home will certainly deserve to be ranked with the
most pleasant mansions in France and England. [7]
In 1963, British historian Mark Girouard wrote an admiring article on
Monticello in which he praised the house for its ingenuity, beauty,
and elegance. Noting the house's design and unique mechanical
devices, he concluded:
Every gadget, every bit of furniture, every corner of every room
speaks of Jefferson, and as he was one of the most engaging and
extraordinary men that ever lived, few visitors leave Monticello
dissatisfied. [8]
University of Virginia
The original section of the University of Virginia was completed in
1825, just a year before Thomas Jefferson's death. Therefore, unlike
Monticello, the ensemble did not attract as many notable visitors on
their way to see both the man and his architectural creation. Rather,
the complex generally has been cited by late nineteenth century and
twentieth century observers.
In 1895, famed architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler described the
ensemble:
Considering the resources available for carrying the University
of Virginia into execution, Jefferson's scheme was incomparably
the most ambitious and monumental architectural project that has
or that has yet been conceived in this country. [9]
In 1978, British architectural writer Marcus Binney summed up his
impressions of the complex:
The University of Virginia provides the irrefutable proof of
Jefferson talents, indeed genius, as an architect: few buildings
in America cast such an immediate and unforgettable spell. [10]
British architectural historians Robin Middleton and David Watkin
described the University of Virginia in their world survey of
neoclassical and 19th century architecture, employing words such as
"novel," "charm," "captivating," and "superb." [11]
The lofty status of the University of Virginia in the constellation
of American architecture is cited by architectural historian Wayne
Andrews. He described it as:
. . . one of the supreme achievements of American archi-
tecture . . . not to be rivalled until 1938 when Frank Lloyd
Wright began sketching the layout of Florida Southern College.
[12]
CRITERION IV: An outstanding example of a
building or architectural ensemble which illustrates a significant
stage in history.
Thomas Jefferson's architecture was part of a movement in Europe that
adapted the forms and details of classical architecture to
contemporary buildings. Neoclassicism was a movement that attracted
the intellectual elite of Europe which studied literature,
philosophy, and languages of antiquity. The neoclassical era in
Europe covers a major portion of the eighteenth century, from the
1730s to the end of the century.
In a larger sense, eighteenth century neoclassicism can be viewed as
a "result of the general Humanistic tradition that emerged in the
Renaissance and continued from Palladio through Inigo Jones and Lord
Burlington in England to the Adams Brothers and the Greek
revival."[13] However, in the span of history from the 1730s to the
1790s, in the Age of Reason, European architecture developed its own
neoclassical form that stands out from its predecessors and
successors in its focus on geometric and rational shapes that spoke
of nobility, grandeur, and simplicity.
Jefferson joined in this revivalist spirit as no other American did
before him. His adaptation of classical forms was more strictly
interpreted with public buildings, such as the Virginia state capitol
and the University of Virginia, where entire classical temples were
used. For domestic architecture, his adaptation of classicism was
looser and reached a lesser degree of purity. Although Jefferson was
influenced by this movement, he adapted it to the American scene,
barely removed from the frontier, and made it uniquely his own.
Monticello and the University of Virginia are two outstanding
architectural compositions that are part of the international
neoclassical movement. They represent the two approaches Jefferson
made toward neoclassicism, from a looser adaptation with Monticello
to a stricter interpretation with the University of Virginia.
However, neither architectural composition was a mere replica of a
particular classical building. Both manifested a combination of ideas
from a variety of sources and are uniquely Jeffersonian.
Jefferson's experience in Paris "demonstrated to him that the
Neoclassical pavilion in a romantic landscape had the potential to
serve as the ideal fabric of a civilized agrarian democracy."[14] His
embrace of classical ideals influenced his choice of an environment
for living. He equated the lifestyles of the Romans with those of the
Revolutionary War's leaders. Learned men of ancient Rome, such as
Cicero, Varro, Horace, and Pliny, lived on farms in the country, as
contrasted with the Greeks who thrived on urban life. As created by
Jefferson, life at Monticello was similar to that of Roman villa life
where the ruling families lived in luxurious mansions and partook of
the intellectual and physical pleasures of the bucolic grounds.
However, Monticello's floor plan was more informal than that of the
typical Roman villa or neoclassical structure. In designing his
house, Jefferson was as motivated to recreate a neoclassical monument
as he was to provide for convenience of living. The house as
completed represents his reconciliation of convenience with classical
forms.
Monticello's role in the international neoclassical movement is
described by British architectural historians Robin Middleton and
David Watkin in their study of world architecture of the neoclassical
and 19th century period:
. . . by 1809 the building had been completely transformed into
a much more interesting and complex, although basically
one-storied, house. With its varied and original planning, its
picturesque parkland setting, and its superb views of mountain
scenery, Monticello realized Jefferson's dream of recreating the
Roman villa described by Pliny, admired by Lord Burlington and
the English Palladians, and recorded in Robert Castell's
Villas of Ancients Illustrated (1728). [15]
However, Monticello was not a typical residence of the period. It was
unique because it represented a reconciliation of classical orders
and forms, on the one hand, and the informal way in which Jefferson
chose to live, on the other. In Court and Garden, architect and
historian Michael Dennis compared a typical floor plan of a
neoclassical aristocratic town house or hôtel with that of
Monticello:
The house [Monticello] had a great variety of rooms, highly
developed service areas, and a separation and contrast between
the public and private sequences resulting from the ingenious
arrangement of the private rooms in two tiers around the
double-height public rooms.
All of these are distinctly French traits, yet one glance
reveals that the plan is not French, but something quite
different. In the typical Neoclassical French plan, the
idiosyncrasies and irregularities are always contained within a
rectangular configuration--simple on the outside, complex on the
inside and the central axis of the building is almost always
blocked. Jefferson's final plan for Monticello is the opposite.
The central Palladian axis is maintained through the sequence of
regular public rooms, and the smaller more specific private
rooms are thrown to the outside of the plan. In addition, the
perimeter of the plan is loose, articulate, particular; here the
center is simple, the perimeter complex. [16]
The pastoral ideal underscored by Monticello was also exemplified by
the academical village of the University of Virginia where students
and professors were removed from the wickedness of urban life. It
resembles more closely a Roman villa than any other type of
architecture, with a loose connection of porticos and buildings
spread out on open country.
The supreme qualities of the University of Virginia were cited by
historians. In 1832, B. L. Rahner wrote:
The plan of the University was unique, in its construction, its
intellectual régime, and its general organization. It was
original with Mr. Jefferson--the off-spring of his genius. [17]
The foremost scholar of Jefferson's architecture, Fiske Kimball,
wrote:
Its separate housing of departments, its independent library
building, its covered connecting passages, as well as its
monumental plan, were new in an American university, and, in
their combination, almost entirely novel abroad. [18]
CRITERION VI: Directly and tangibly associated
with ideas, beliefs, and events of outstanding universal
significance.
Thomas Jefferson's architecture grew out of his lifelong involvement
with ancient languages, literature, history, and philosophy. His
architecture reflected his high regard for the classical
civilizations of Rome and Greece and was part of the classical trend
that swept through Europe in the eighteenth century. To him, the
neoclassical movement was more than a trend. It offered lessons for
the ages. As Lewis Mumford stated:
Jefferson believed that the forms presented by classic
architecture were of . . . [a] universal and eternal nature.
[19]
Jefferson's taste in architecture far transcended notions about
beauty or style. It also serves as a compelling expression of his
hopes for the new nation--that it would be noble and free from the
traditions of the Old World; that it would offer infinite
possibilities to the common man; and, that it would serve as a beacon
for freedom and self-determination for the world. As historian Howard
Adams wrote in 1983:
As the work of a romantic, even radical idealist, Jefferson's
architecture, particularly in his most personal creation,
Monticello, can best be understood within the framework of these
social and political ambitions that shaped Jefferson's hopes and
dreams for the new nation. . . .In its design, history,
symbolism, and metaphor, Monticello is the quintessential
example of the autobiographical house. [20]
As much as the Declaration of Independence and Jefferson's other
political and literary works, his architecture is symbolic of his
universal hopes for the new nation and for the world's humanity. As
embodied in Jefferson's architecture, these ideals also were depicted
by historian Howard Adams:
As the house of the chief architect of the New Republic,
Monticello continues to speak openly of those goals Jefferson
held for himself, his family, his government, and his fellow
countrymen. As architecture it has attained its own universal
value and survives as a monument to a remarkable individual by
those special means through which humanity has always attempted
to survive. [21]
Conclusion
Monticello and the University of Virginia have achieved immortality
in the numerous publications that address world and American
architecture. They are an integral part of the discussions of the
neoclassical movement in world architecture because they sprang from
this common source. Although a resident of Charlottesville, Virginia,
then on the edge of the American frontier, Thomas Jefferson was a
full and equal participant in an international community of
intellectuals who were steeped in the classical languages,
philosophy, and art.
While Jefferson contributed his ideas to the creation of the new
national capital city, Washington, D.C., and to the Capitol of
Virginia at Richmond, Monticello and the University of Virginia
represent the two major architectural properties to which he devoted
his greatest creative energies. They also were constructed entirely
according to his designs under his supervision, and without
interference from other parties.
The world significance of the two properties included in this
nomination lies in three spheres: As creative masterpieces in the
eyes of scholars and observers, as unique and outstanding examples of
an international artistic movement, and as symbolic of the universal
values of the new republic, the United States, and those of the rest
of humanity who aspire to freedom and self-determination.
Footnotes
1. Philip Alexander Bruce, History of the University of Virginia,
1819-1919. Vol. 1 (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1920), p. 181.
2. Marquis de Chastellux, Travels in North America in the Years
1780, 1781, and 1782 (Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina Press, 1963), p. 392.
3. John Summerson, Architecture ln Britain, 1530-1830 (London:
Penguin Books, 1953), p. 343.
4. Kenneth Clark, Civilization: A Personal View (London:
British Broadcasting Corporation, 1969), p. 264.
5. Robin Middleton and David Watkin, Neoclassical and 19th
Century Architecture (New York: Henry N. Abrams, Inc., 1980,
orig. publ. 1977).
6. Ibid., p. 309.
7. Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt in J. G. Nicolay, "Thomas
Jefferson's Home," The Century Magazine, 34 (September 1887),
p. 650.
8. Mark Girouard, "Monticello, Virginia, The Home of Thomas Jefferson
from 1771 to 1826," Country Life, 133 (January 17, 1963), p.
108.
9. Montgomery Schuyler, "A History of Old Colonial Architecture,"
Architectural Record, IV (January-March 1895), p. 350.
10. Marcus Binney, "The University of Virginia - II," Country
Life, 163 (January 19, 1978), p. 142.
11. Robin Middleton and David Watkin, op. cit., p. 309.
12. Wayne Andrews, Architecture, Ambition, and Americans (New
York: Harper & Row, 1955), p. 64.
13. Karl Lehman, Thomas Jefferson, American Humanist (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1947), p. 157.
14. Michael Dennis, Court & Garden: From the French Hotel to the
City of Modern Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press,
1986), p. 231.
15. Robin Middleton and David Watkin, op. cit., p. 309.
16. Michael Dennis, op. cit., p. 233.
17. B. L. Rahner, Sketches of the Life, Writings, and Opinions of
Thomas Jefferson (New York, 1832), p. 537.
18. Fiske Kimball, Thomas Jefferson Architect (Boston: The
Riverside Press, 1916), p. 80.
19 Lewis Mumford, The South in Architecture (New York:
Harcourt, Brace & Cox, 1941), p. 52.
20 William Howard Adams, Jefferson's Monticello (New York:
Abbeville Press, 1983), p. 2.
21. Ibid., p. 263.
SIGNED (ON BEHALF OF STATE PARTY)
Full Name: [indecipherable signature]
Title: Assistant Secretary of the Interior
Date: Dec 11 1986