Manus Hand

Monticello lives up to its billing as an architectural, mechanical, and design spectacle. On the day of our visit the house was unfortunately surrounded on all sides by 20th century scaffolding to assist in maintenance and restoration work, and workers were busy everywhere. Indeed, I took the opportunity to have myself photographed outside the mansion at a patch of grave-shaped earth which was under repair, and the result was the title picture for my eccentric hobby. In it, I'm pointing to the mound and consulting a visitor's brochure, asking "Is this one??"

Despite the ongoing work on the exterior, the interior of the house was beautiful as ever, although the reconstruction did keep the tour from reaching the upper floor of the residence (actually, I have heard that this floor has remained closed to the public ever since this particular restoration). The guided tour went through Jefferson's living quarters, showing such famous sights as his seven-day clock (a two-story-high chronometer which tells not only the time but the day of the week), his busts of Washington, Lafayette, and Napoleon, his duplicating writing table, the first-ever dumb-waiter and swivel chair, and many of his other ingenious inventions.

We broke away from the tour group and found ourselves exploring the dank wine cellars housed in the open carriage tunnel beneath the home. Our wanderings surprised a few of the gardeners, who now use the stables and wineries as toolsheds -- apparently we left the beaten path more than the usual tourists (the sights were definitely worth seeing, so I would certainly recommend a little exploration to you).

We rejoined the tour as it went through Jefferson's staple gardens, which are tended today by faithful re-enactors, and then, continuing down the the dirt path which skirts the gardens and leads behind the house, we soon reached the family cemetery. The president's monument is situated at the head of the group of gravestones, immediately inside the gate at the center of a short edge of the rectangular cemetery. It was rather crowded at the site, and we had to wait our turn to take the photograph you see above. Monticello is certainly worth visiting, even if for no other reason than to actually read on his gravestone the famous epitaph Jefferson wrote for himself, remarkable for his decision not even to mention the fact that he was President of the United States.