The home of Thomas Jefferson, designed and built by himself upon land inherited from his father—Colonel Peter Jefferson, member of the House of Burgesses and Lieutenant-Colonel of the County. The leveling of the mountain top began, 1768. Due to successive additions and alterations, completion of the buildings was later than 1809. Following the burning of Shadwell, his father’s home, Jefferson moved to Monticello (the Southwest Out Chamber) in 1771 and in 1772 brought his bride there. She was Martha Wayles Skelton, a young widow of twenty-three, distinguished for beauty and a graceful carriage. It was an exceptionally happy marriage, ended after ten years by her death. Of six children, only two daughters survived infancy. Both left descendants.
In 1781 Monticello was raided by British Tarleton’s troops, in pursuit of the refugeeing Governor and Legislature. Forewarned, the family escaped. There was no property damage. Upon his visit to America in 1824, Lafayette was a guest here, and a great public reception in his honor was held on the lawn.
Monticello remained Jefferson’s much loved home until his death there, July 4, 1826, aged eighty-three. Due to financial stress, it was sold in 1830 for $7,000. In 1836 it was purchased by Commodore Uriah P. Levy of the United States Navy for $2,700. With the exception of the Civil War period, when it was confiscated by the Confederate Government, it remained in the Levy family until sold to the Monticello Memorial Foundation, 1923. Much of the original furniture and many personal relics are on display.
Home of James Monroe, twice Governor of Virginia, U. S. Senator, Secretary of State and War, Minister to France and to England, and twice President of the United States. James Monroe was born in 1758 at his father’s home, Monroe’s Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia. He studied at Williamsburg, served with distinction in the Revolutionary War, and practiced law for eighteen months in Fredericksburg. His removal to Albemarle was the fulfillment of a long-cherished plan, as his pleasant letters to Mr. Jefferson show. One reads as follows:
Ash Lawn. The “Cabin-Castle”. J. Rawlings Thomson
August 19, 1786. “I shall leave this (N.Y.) for Virginia. I have not relinquished the prospect of being your neighbor.... The house for which I have requested a plan may possibly be erected near Monticello. To fix there and to have yourself in particular, with what friends we may collect around for society, is my chief object, or rather the only one which promises to me ... real and substantial pleasure.” Writings of James Monroe, Stanislaus Murray, Hamilton, Vol. I, p. 158.
Mr. Jefferson’s reply is also pleasant.
“To Colonel Monroe from Jefferson, December 18, 1786. Paris. When I return, which will be early in the Spring, I shall send you ... the plan of your house. I wish to heaven you may continue in the disposition to fix it in Albemarle. Short (Washington’s Minister to Holland) will establish himself there, and perhaps Madison may be tempted to do so. This will be society enough, and it will be the great sweetener of our lives.” Papers of Thos. Jefferson, edited by T. J. Randolph, Vol. II, p. 69.
In August, 1789, Monroe removed to his first Albemarle purchase—an 800-acre farm just west of Charlottesville. A portion of this tract is now included in the site of the University of Virginia, and known as Monroe Hill. This farm proved a disappointment, and in 1793 he bought the Carter tract. This adjoined Monticello on the north and William Short’s estate—then Indian Camp, now Morven—on the south. Monroe named his new home Highland, but by later changes of ownership it became North Blenheim and then Ash Lawn.
BUILDING OF ASH LAWN
Due to Monroe’s prolonged absences—Washington, France, England—the development of the estate was delayed. Jefferson, and Monroe’s uncle, Joseph Jones, Chief Justice of Virginia, had oversight of planning and building. The exact date of the moving in is given in a letter from Monroe.
“November 22, 1799. I was yesterday at Monticello, where Mr. Jefferson informed me he proposed a visit to you ... I told him it would ... immediately appear throughout the nation. He declined the trip ... in the persuasion an interview might be had, by your making me a visit, in my new home, to which I move tomorrow.” Writings, Vol. III, p. 158.
SALE OF ASH LAWN
As is well known, Monroe’s life was straitened by debt. Under this pressure, he wrote to Jefferson as early as 1814 of a plan to sell either his Loudon estate or that in Albemarle, adding:
“intending however, not to sell that in Albemarle unless the price be such as to indemnify me for the sacrifice I shall make in relinquishing a residence of 26 years’ standing, as mine has been, and near old friends to whom I am greatly attached.” Writings, Vol. V, p. 287.
The sale finally took place, January 1st, 1826, the price being $18,140. The Monroes then resided at Oak Hill in Loudon County. In 1828 Mr. Monroe removed to New York City, where his death occurred, July 4th, 1831. His body was re-interred at Richmond, Virginia, July 5th, 1858.
BOXWOOD GARDEN AND STATUE
Ash Lawn’s widely known boxwood garden is held, by local tradition, to have been designed by a French landscape artist who during Monroe’s presidency was engaged in work for Washington City. Certainly the old formal planting and the size of the slow-growing dwarf box (suffruticosa) do not clash with this belief.
The garden now is dominated by a marble statue of Monroe. This was presented to the president’s home upon the hundredth anniversary of his death, by the sculptor Attilio Piccirilli, whose work may be also seen in the capitol in Richmond and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Michie’s Old Tavern. J. Rawlings Thomson
THE MICHIE TAVERN
Rt. 53, Monticello Road
This authentic eighteenth century tavern was moved, 1927, from its original site on the Buck Mountain Road in North Albemarle to its present location on Monticello Road. Before-and-after photographs show that while some later tamperings were done away with, the original structure was scrupulously preserved—with the exception of the cellar, whose massive slave masonry it was not possible to transport or reproduce.
This tavern bears the name of William Michie, son of the John Michie of Louisa County who in 1746 bought a one thousand, one hundred and fifty-two acre tract in that region from John Henry of Hanover County, father of Patrick Henry. John Michie made his home in this region in a great river bend, and named it the Horse Shoe. His sons shared in the development of the tract, and John Michie’s will, 1777, provided that each son should be confirmed in ownership of the acres he had brought under cultivation, before equal distribution of the remainder.
William Michie inherited in the Buck Mountain section, lived there, and on November 11, 1784, petitioned the court for “License to keep ordinary in my house.” William Michie became a large landowner, served as Magistrate and Sheriff, and died in 1811.
This old building displays an interesting exhibit of the accustomed furnishings of that period.
Lewis and Clark Statue. 1919.
