Monticello and its gardens, etching Jane Braddick Peticolas, 1825
The work began in 1768 and moved to Jefferson pavilion south in 1770. The original design was based on the classic architectural style of Palladio. Monticello where Jefferson abandoned in 1784 to travel extensively in Europe, the original design of the house was completed in general, except for the arcades and decorations inside the timber. Upon his return, his broad vision of Jefferson Monticello incorporating features of Palladian architecture, and I admire ruins overseas. Construction of Monticello ended in 1809 with the construction of the dome.
Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, and Monticello was inherited by his eldest daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph. Financial difficulties led to Martha to sell the house to James T. Barclay. In 1834 Barclay sold it to Uriah P. Levy, the first Jewish American to make a career as a naval officer in the U.S. Navy. Levy felt great admiration for Jefferson. During the Civil War, the house was confiscated by the government of the Confederation and sold, but Levy was able to recover his death in 1862.
The trials brought by the heirs of Levy were resolved in 1879 when his nephew, Jefferson Monroe Levy, a prominent lawyer in New York, stock and real estate agent and member of Congress, buy the portion of the remaining heirs and take control of property . Jefferson Levy, like his uncle, repair, restore and preserve Monticello, which had deteriorated while in substance the inheritance trials in New York and Virginia.
In 1923, the house was bought by a private, nonprofit Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Monticello is currently used as a museum and educational institution. Visitors can view rooms at ground floor and basement, but the top floor is not open to the public.
Monticello shown on the back of the ticket 2 U.S. dollars in 1953.
Monticello is the only shelter in the United States which has been designated a World Heritage Site. From 1989 to 1992, a team of architects of the American Historical Service Architecture over the entire package. The resulting maps are stored in the Library of Congress. The designation as a World Heritage Site also includes the original buildings of the University of Virginia, founded by Jefferson.
Jefferson other architectural designs are in their other home near Lynchburg, Virginia, called “Poplar Forest” and the Virginia State Capitol in his capital, Richmond.