Around the grounds of Monticello

Here are some shots of interesting and/or scenic spots around Monticello.

TJ had a very cool clock in his home that showed both on the inside and outside. On the ceiling is his wind vane so that he didn't have to look on the top of the house, especially if it were raining and stormy. He designed both of these items.

One of the cisterns used for collecting rainwater, in the event the wells ran dry, which they often did. He had four of these, each holding over 3000 gallons.
The inside toilet. Pretty nice for 1790!
There was a dumbwaiter system set up on the main floor, attached to the fireplace sides. The slave in the basement could load up a bottle and send it upstairs without having to walk up and down, which given where the stairs were located, would have been inconvenient.
The kitchen where most of the meals were prepared by slaves.

Dave would have had this job at Monticello. Honestly, you can still smell the smokiness!

A gorgeous view of Monticello
A huge tree on the side of the house used to be here. I had the kids stand so that you could gauge the size of the tree.
The Levy family bought Monticello after TJ died in order to preserve the estate. As a result, about 80% of the items in the house are original as well as most of the house being original. No one is quite sure why the Levy's felt like they ought to do this, nor did I think to ask if the Levy's lived there. They owned it until 1923 when the TJ Foundation had enough funds to purchase the estate back and keep it open for visitors. One of the granddaughters of Mr. Levy, who purchased Monticello, is buried there. Quite interesting.

TJ's grave. This is not the original stone, but these are his own words.