Monticello - Jefferson's home

Monticello - Jefferson's home was worth the trip. Set on a mountain top, the views were incredible, and the innovations he adopted were fun to see.
The mountains in the distance and the vegetable gardens in the foreground.

Some of the 160 species of trees that he had planted.

Our tour of the house ended at the sundial.

Looking back at the house. Interesting to see how bright the colors were that were favored in Colonial and Federal times.

All of the necessary but not so pretty things were hidden underneath the house so not to block the view, but remain closeby.

One of the overlooks.

The back of the house. You can see some of the 20 oval flower beds near the house.

The beds in the sun were blooming, but the ones in the shade were in various stages.

Beautiful peonies.

Amaryllis in the green house.

This is an interesting shot because it is very similar to the Mount Vernon greenhouses. The fires were built underneath the floor to keep the greenhouse warm.

Tulips - after the house tour, I wasn't up for another tour. (The tour was interesting, but the questions from our fellow tour members were excessive.) So, we took a self-guided tour of the grounds instead of the group tour.

The most interesting room in the underneath part was the ice room. Ice from nearby lakes was cut in the winter and stored in the ice room to be used all summer long.

The front of the house.

After Jefferson's stay in Paris, he completely redesigned the house. What was originally one floor was split in two.

The vegetable gardens.

Walked through the gardens to see what was growing.

Iris and cabbages in the part that was in the full sun.

The cemetary at Monticello is still owned and used by the descendents of Jefferson.

There were several wreaths in front of the gigantic headstone for Jefferson.

We then followed the trail back to the visitor center for lunch, to view the movie about Monticello, the small museum and the gigantic gift shop. We learned all sorts of facts about Jefferson and his amazing home.