Thomas Jefferson began Monticello on a leveled mountaintop in 1769 and kept redesigning it for the rest of his life, returning from Paris with new ideas and rebuilding the house around a dome.
It was also a working plantation. More than 600 people were enslaved by Jefferson over his lifetime, and the kitchens, quarters and workshops along Mulberry Row were where much of the house's daily life actually happened.
Jefferson died here on July 4, 1826. The estate was sold to pay his debts; today it is a museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Timeline
- 1769Construction begins on the mountaintop.
- 1796Jefferson starts remaking the house after his years in France.
- 1826Jefferson dies at Monticello on July 4.
A house can tell two stories at once — the one its owner designed and the one the people who worked there lived.
