Page 9 - Demo

Happy 2ooth Anniversary!
However, his experienced bricklayer, Hugh Chisolm, had proved incapable of carrying out the
very first step, laying the geometry of the brick foundation. The new house was not of ordinary design but a favorite shape of Jefferson’s: an octagon. For five days Jefferson was “so much engaged” on the site, beginning the fulfillment
of his long–time dream to create a permanent retreat from the social
hustle and bustle at Monticello, not
to mention the political demands and distractions at the President’s House
in Washington. At the same time, President Jefferson was busy putting his customary mark on the still unfinished President’s House by adding his signature service wings to the building. Eventually presidents would use the “West Wing” for more than just service. Jefferson’s designs for remodeling the interior of the President’s House and for the landscape were never fulfilled, but they found similar forms in both the house and the grounds of his new Bedford County retreat.
A President’s Other Duties
Construction of Thomas Jefferson’s new house, which he called Poplar Forest, was supervised by mail from the President’s House. Jefferson’s penchant for retaining copies of his correspondence was greatly enhanced by what he called “the finest invention of the age,” the polygraph machine, which produced two original letters at the same time. Letters to the workers at Poplar Forest contained detailed instructions and were accompanied by working drawings. Even when
in residence at Monticello, Jefferson
still corresponded with workers at Poplar Forest, both free and slave, who carried out the idealistic details for his long–awaited retreat. Hugh Chilsom knew Jefferson’s brick construction preferences, having worked at Monticello since about 1800. Carpenter John Perry, another regular Monticello worker, was hired to frame the house. His brother Reuben, a Lynchburg carpenter, also joined in. These men and their crews had Poplar Forest closed-in by 1809. Doors and windows came ready for installation from the joinery shops at Monticello, constructed by Irish carpenter James Dinsmore and his slave apprentice John Hemings.
Graceful Living in the Workshop
By 1809, though the house and grounds were far from finished, the newly retired president began his occasional sojourns to Bedford County. He was greeted by bare brick walls with exposed ceiling framing and no interior doors. With the exception of Jefferson’s own bed alcove, the house would not be plastered for another five years. Nevertheless, Poplar Forest offered what he prized the most: peace and quiet. Workers coming and going from Monticello would continue to put on the finishing touches for
the next fourteen years. By the time Jefferson directed the installation of
his special neo-classical moldings,
John Hemings was the master joiner and made all the intricate moldings
on site with the help of his own slave apprentices. Hemings would also construct the complicated “Jeffersonian” flat roof systems for the deck above the central cube room and on the 100-foot wing of service rooms that Jefferson added to one side of the house in 1814.
Hobbies of His Old Age
Jefferson the private citizen required little to make his immediate use of Poplar Forest one of great pleasure. As he told John Adams in 1815: “I cannot live without books but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is
the only future object.” While still in Washington, Jefferson started collecting petit-format books (3 x 5 inches to 4 x 6 inches). These small books comprised 37% of his nearly 700 books at Poplar Forest. Most notable among the small volumes were 108 volumes of Bell’s The Poets of Great Britain. Published in five languages, the majority of books were poems, plays, or literature. Absent were law books and other references used
in conducting government. In fact, Jefferson even went so far as to eschew current news. He had confided to Adams: “I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid; and I find myself much the happier.” When helping
lay the brick foundation in 1806 for
his future retreat, Jefferson correctly anticipated that the personalized house and site would afford him and small numbers of family a rich, yet simplified, life for many years to come. And, in these peaceful surroundings, Jefferson could achieve what he called the final hobby of his old age: creating and designing the University of Virginia.
Travis McDonald
has been Director of Architectural Restoration at Jefferson’s Poplar Forest since 1989.
FALL/WINTER 2006 