I was very disappointed when they told us we could not take pictures inside the home because there were so many details I wanted to remember forever. The architecture, the furnishings, the windows.. it was insane.
These pictures are from the website and they don't do the home justice (they look like they were taken in the 90s...)
There were so many elements in Thomas Jefferson's home that you still see today used over and over and over in design. And if you read my blog often, you know I am a sucker for classic and old details.
Here are spaces of today that feature many elements I saw in Jefferson's home!
[ eddie ross via lonny ]
[ lonny ]
[ domino ]
[ domino ]
I'm pretty certain for our next home I'd really love an older home. Maybe not quite as old as Jefferson's house though ;)
So cool! Are all the furnishings in his home still from him or were they changed?
ReplyDeleteyay! a trip to Charlottesville, probably my favorite place in all the world :) my husband and I both went to UVA--I hope you got a chance to see the Lawn/Rotunda too--I think you'd love it!
ReplyDeleteGreat home. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeletebeautiful! i love the cozy little nook in the closet. i visited monticello when i was in elementary school, and i remember loving the grounds, too. such beautiful gardens. what a place!
ReplyDeleteI missed the words between the last image of Jefferson's house to the image with the zebra rug. I was caught off guard, thought he started the zebra rug trend.
ReplyDeleteThat sucks you couldn't take pictures. I love old architecture and design especially the floor to ceiling windows.
This is only a couple of hours from where I live and I still haven't been there. Putting it on my to-do list. Also, be careful what you wish for with older houses. They are beautiful but it's a neverending "project".
ReplyDeleteI'd love to go there as well - I remember in design school we were taught he was the country's 1st interior designer! ha! Did you notice the proportions of each room? I remember he painstakingly thought through everything about that house.... oh and the little sleeping nook where the bed is between walls or something?? Ahhhh the random stuff we remember from school! ;) Thanks for sharing! -Boo
ReplyDeleteI also went to UVA...for architecture....so TJ pretty much has God like status for me. My friends and I would take trips to Monticello because we were bored and needed something to do. Talk about nerds! :)
ReplyDeleteWow... amazing how certain details just never go out of style. I was surprised to see that red wingback- it looks so mod!
ReplyDeletemy husband and i visited monticello on an anniversary trip a few years ago and loved it! you are so right that there are so many details to absorb. i really loved how you could really see the inventor in thomas jefferson as you toured his home...the "high-tech" innovations he came up with were so incredible!
ReplyDeleteBryn - next time come to Richmond and say hello! So many beautiful homes/neighborhoods/history to see. Would love to meet you in person.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already, you MUST read "At Home: A Short History of Private Life", by Bill Bryson. Not only is it a fascinating look at the history of the modern home, and he talks a lot about Monticello. SUCH a great read. Here's the book description from Amazon:
ReplyDeleteFrom one of the most beloved authors of our time—a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home. “Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.” Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.” The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has figured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture. Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an occasion for the most diverting exposition imaginable. His wit and sheer prose fluency make At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.Show More Show Less
I live in Charlottesville and we take all our out-of-town visitors to Monticello! I adore that place, it is insanely beautiful. Jefferson's library (and the adjacent porch) is my favorite room. If you come visit the grandparents during the Spring/Summer, you should stop by Swannanoa. It's open May 5/6 & 26/27, June 2/3 & 23/24, and July 7/8. It's mostly unrestored, but totally worth seeing!
ReplyDeleteMarissa
www.roost-home.blogspot.com
I love this post! I was an architecture major at UVA, so of course we spent a fair amount of time studying Monticello. It's such a cool place, the view is to die for!
ReplyDeleteI went to Monticello for a holiday tour last month and they let us take pictures in the Rotunda...it was pretty exciting, but all I wanted was to take pictures in the breakfast area of the dining room! I also love the silhouette collection in the living room. I hope you loved Charlottesville! We Virginians are pretty proud of it.
ReplyDeleteWow, so cool. Why no pics in the house?
ReplyDeleteLooks so pretty! I would love to visit someday. Scalamandre did the fabrics for Monticello's renovation several year ago.
ReplyDeletewww.idesignlove.com
I went to UVA and always loved going to Monticello. Sometimes in the winter they have special architecture tours during which you get to see the upstairs.
ReplyDeleteHope you got to go to UVA too! The inside of the Rotunda is gorgeous!