Monticello is the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Piedmont region, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres (20 km2). Due to its architectural and historic significance, the property has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and has been extensively preserved and maintained for many years. In 1987, Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[1]
Coverage[]
Monticello is featured in Take Me to Your Leader.
It is introduced in 3 weeks after people when the episode stated that it houses the groundbreaking inventions of one of America's greatest men from a great clock powered by descending cannonballs, a copying machine used to make duplicate documents, to one of the first indoor toilets in American history, The nearly 200 year old mansion in Virginia was personally built and occupied by President Thomas Jefferson and despite his opposition to slavery, many of Jefferson's own slaves helped to build his dream home. Monticello was built to last, unlike other homes in America at the time. Robert L. Self stated that it is extremely well made because it is constructed out of brick making it very unusual for the area where most of the houses were made of wood. One of the more innovative features of the house is its metal shingle roof. The current shingles are 316 grade, a surgical grade of stainless steel, and the roof was designed to include 13 skylights, a concept far ahead of its time, but these windows serve as a potential weakness. Tanya Komas stated that old or new skylights in any structure tend to leak fairly quickly compared to the roof or the vertical windows, making it a vulnerable area of the building. For now, Monticello is holding its own against nature's approach.
In 1 year after people, Monticello continues to withstand nature's assault, and the skylights remain watertight because of Thomas Jefferson's innovative designs. Robert L. Self shows one of the main skylights over Jefferson's bedchamber and one would notice the glass overlaps shingle fashion that have the course above overlapping below it which sheds the water making it very effective because it won't leak at all even in heavy rain. The skylights have proven effective at keeping out moisture for many years, but Jefferson's home might not be as strong as it appears because unlike the opulent kings of France, Jefferson had to manage his budget carefully. Steven S. Ross stated that Jefferson was perennially short of funds and the problem is that he had to live off the cash flow of his farm. Jefferson's money troubles forced him to come up with some creative construction techniques that might doom his treasured home of Monticello.
Monticello after 150 years.
In 150 years after people, Monticello has met a similar fate to many other more resilient buildings around the planet, having been encroached by plants, primarily ivy, which grips the building's outside, and grass, which grows on various low-lying areas of the home. The skylights in the roof were destroyed many years ago by hail and falling tree branches, and the stainless steel shingles could not prevent the wooden roof supports from rotting and collapsing.
Monticello was - and in reality, still is - a masterpiece, but money troubles sometimes dogged Thomas Jefferson. Corners were sometimes cut to make best use of the materials the home was constructed from. For example, while Monticello's facade appears to be made of stone, it's actually built from wood, painted with sand to resemble stone, while the stone columns on the west side are actually brick covered with stucco. These construction tricks were convincing to Monticello's visitors, but there's no fooling Mother Nature. After decades of resilience, Monticello's resolve finally begins to crack piece by piece when several columns on the west side break and fall down.
Gallery[]
Series
Concept Art[2]
