Visit to Monticello

This weekend Terrie Rust and I took a trip to Charlottesville, VA.  The main purpose was to visit Thomas Jefferson's home which he called Monticello ("little mountain" in Italian).  It was about a three hour drive so we left early on Saturday.  The weather was great.

I was not very impressed with what I saw of Charlottesville, but the University of Virginia was very interesting.  Thomas Jefferson designed and established UVa when he was 75 years old.  The architecture was strongly influenced by his time in Europe.Jefferson drew detailed plans for each building.

We paid for a guided tour of Monticello.  The estate consists of the house, ornamental landscape, and a diverse community that included as many as 140 slaves and 5000 acre plantation.  Jefferson spent 40 years building and remodeling Monticello.  

We also toured the home of John Adams,  Ashlawn-Highland which is close enough to see from Jefferson's home.  Adams' home and estate are not nearly as large as Monticello.  Both men furnished the inside of their homes with imported French furniture and other expensive materials.  We were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the houses.