Architecture Commons^™

The Publicity Of Monticello: A Private Home As Emblem And Means, Benjamin Block

Summer Research

This paper examines how the private home of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, was, in fact, designed and constructed in many ways as a public building. By examining how Jefferson created the spaces that would have been visited by guests to Monticello, one can see that visitors were intended to have meaningful, affecting experiences at the home. I have broken down the study of these experiences into two parts: the first examines Monticello as a personal emblem of Jefferson’s aesthetic and political philosophy; the second explores Monticello as a means to crafting Jefferson's personal vision of America. I argue that Jefferson intended …