Monticello was intended to be fashioned as a traditional Palladian building, but its location was not practical. It had been said that building a house on a mountain was most impractical. As a result of it's impractically, Jefferson paid dearly in his efforts. He had to transport tons of stone and timber. Once the original structure was up, there was not enough water in the well to meet the needs. He then had to transport water-using carts from the nearby springs. 

Life was uncomfortable and difficult in the early years of construction, especially for his wife, Martha, who had to live in a house that in her lifetime was never finished. She had to tolerate unfinished walls & roof, being subjected to severe cold winds, brick and plaster dust, all the while bearing six children in ten years, having lost four of them, until her death in 1782 at the early age of thirty‑three. 

Throughout the many discomforts and hardships experienced at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson felt there was a brighter side, in that nothing like Monticello had ever been built in Colonial America.  

Thomas Jefferson was an extraordinary man. In his fifty‑six years at Monticello it seems he always kept himself quite busy. He designed and invented many things. He would start his day at first light, reportedly when he could read the hands of the obelisk clock that he designed. This clock was marked by clangs from a Chinese gong placed on the roof. The gong was powered by the clock located in the entrance hall. The mechanism was controlled by fifty-pound cannonball weights that would descend slowly throughout the week, falling through holes in the floor by Friday, spending the next two days falling further into the cellar. 

Some of his other inventions include a dumbwaiter; a polygraph machine that enabled him to make exact copies of letters as he was writing them; Venetian blinds he used to regulate sunlight in his greenhouses; a moldboard for a plow; and his achromatic telescope. 

When he was not busy building, designing or inventing, Thomas Jefferson spent many hours writing one of his more than 20,000 letters, or reading from one of his more than seven thousand books in his library. His library contained books in seven languages, two of which were Latin and Greek, languages he had mastered. When he worked at his desk, he would have no less than twenty books at a time in which to refer. 

Thomas Jefferson spent over forty years in public service. He was a Delegate to the Virginia House of Burgesses (1769‑1793); and the Continental Congress (1775); Governor of Virginia (1797‑1801); Minister to France (1785‑1789); Washington's Secretary of State (1789‑1793); John Adam's vice‑president (1797‑1801); and President of the United States (1801‑1809).

           Monticello through all its greatness also had an economic flaw. Although Thomas Jefferson could feed and clothe its inhabitants, it did not produce enough cash crops to pay for the country‑gentleman lifestyle so accustomed to Jefferson. As a result it was worked by the most oppressive of labor systems, human slavery. Jefferson did however deplore human slavery and was optimistic that it would one day be abolished. He knew though that the only way to run a plantation of this size was through the use of slaves. He did manage to free a few of his slaves, but by the time of his death the remaining slaves as well as the remainder of his property were offered for sale to pay his debts. 

Throughout his lifetime Thomas Jefferson is remembered for his wit, his designs and inventions, his writings, and his public service. But let us not forget that it was he who wrote the Declaration of Independence and also as President of the United States signed the authorization for the Louisiana Purchase, thus acquiring for the United States what is now the present states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Montana. This was perhaps the most endearing service to his country. 

I have had the privilege to visit Monticello on two separate occasions. It is an experience one would never forget. I recommend a visit to all. 

           Thomas Jefferson: Born April 13th, 1743. Thomas Jefferson wrote in his account book in 1826 the inscriptions to be cut on his tombstone. He made no note that he had been President of the United States, but wished simply to be most remembered for founding the University of Virginia, for writing the Declaration of Independence and Virginia's Act for Religious Freedom. The last line was to read: Died July 4, 1826. 

It was only fitting that Thomas Jefferson died at Monticello, the place he loved to live.  

Statue of Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia at Wise

Quick Biographical Facts

 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

3rd President of the United States

Term‑March 4, 1801 to March 4, 1809

Democratic‑Republican Party

 

Birth: "Shadwell", Goochland (now Albemarle) County, Virginia, April 13, 1743.

Ancestry: Welsh

Marriage:

"The Forest" Charles City, County, Virginia January 1, 1772 to Martha Wayles Skelton who was born in Charles City, County, Virginia October 19, 1748. Martha died on September 6, 1782 at "Monticello", Virginia and is buried there.

Children:

Martha (1772‑1836); Maria (1778‑1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1782‑1785). (Two daughters and a son died in infancy).

Home: "Monticello", Charlottesville, Virginia.

Education:

Private Tutoring; Attended country school in Albemarle County, Virginia; Received B.A. from College of William and Mary.

Religion: No specific denomination.