66 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 1907 



with the mansion by a walk. 

 In the rear of the house is a 

 lawn of three acres, with 

 stately old trees all about it. 

 Many of them were set out 

 by Jefferson himself, and 

 not a few were his special 

 importations from Europe, 

 these being, in some in- 

 stances, the pioneers of some 

 populous species on this side 

 of the Atlantic. Conspic- 

 uous among the landscape- 

 gardening features are the 

 remarkable rectangular 

 flower-beds arranged b y 

 Edmund Bacon, who was 

 for twenty years Jefferson's 

 overseer. 



The Monticello mansion 

 has a Doric order of Roman 

 architecture, with heavy cor- 

 nices and massive balus- 

 trades. The interior is in 

 the Ionic style. The front 

 hall recedes six feet within 

 the wall of the building, antl 

 a portico projects about 

 twenty-five feet, with stone 

 pillars and steps. The 

 house was thirty-two years 

 in building. Begun in 1770, 



it was not completed until 1802, and cost, according to the 

 account-books of its famous architect and builder, only 

 $7,200 in actual outlay of money. The bricks were not 

 imported from England, as in the case of many of the old 

 Virginia mansions, but were made on the ground by the 



Mantel and Doorway in the Hall 



The Main Hall of " Monticello " 



slaves. I he ornamental material for the house was brought 

 from Philadelphia, and every nail used in the construction 

 was forged in a nail-factory which Jefferson established on 

 the place. 



Probably the most impressive feature of the interior is the 



great hall, which is thirty 

 feet square and extends to 

 the full height of the build- 

 ing, with a music-gallery 

 under the ceiling. The 

 salon where Jefferson was 

 wont to entertain his friends 

 has a floor inlaid in satin- 

 wood and rosewood, as 

 highly polished as a table, 

 and cost originally more 

 than $2,000. Truly impos- 

 ing is the library, which 

 sheltered the major portion 

 of Jefi^erson's famous col- 

 lection of thirteen thousand 

 books, and near at hand on 

 the first floor is Jefferson's 

 bedroom where he died. 



Unique in many of its 

 attributes is the tea-room, 

 with its exquisite, carved 

 white-marble mantel. Ad- 

 joining it is a little private 

 council-chamber to which 

 Jefferson was accustomed to 

 invite any of his numerous 

 guests with whom he wished 

 to consult in strict privacy. 

 Glass doors connect this 

 closet-like apartment with 

 the tea-room. 



