Monticello Estates Travel Guide

Number of rooms: There are a total of forty-three rooms in the entire structure: thirty-three in the house itself (cellar, twelve; first floor, eleven; second floor, six; third floor, four); four in the pavilions; and six under the South Terrace. The stable and carriage bays under the North Terrace are not included in these totals. The first design of Monticello had fourteen rooms total (cellar, six; first floor, five; second floor, three).

Overall dimensions: 110' long, 87'9" wide (to outer faces of porticoes), 44'7" high (to oculus of dome).

Height of rooms: These vary, but as examples, the Entrance Hall is 18'6" high; the North Octagonal Room, 9'10"; and second floor bedrooms, 8'0". See individual rooms featured in "The House."

Number of skylights: thirteen (oculus plus twelve).

Thickness of exterior walls: Also variable, from 13.5" at the northeast front to 27" in the parlor side walls.

Square footage of living area: About 11,000 square feet, including the cellars below the house, but not including the pavilions or rooms under the terraces.

Percentage of original window glass shown in the house today: About one-third of the window glass is original.

Number of fireplaces: There are eight fireplaces and two openings for stoves on the main floor of the house.

Monticello was a working plantation -- a center of agriculture and industry -- home not only to the Jefferson family, but to an extended community of workers, black and white, enslaved and free. On the quarter farms of Shadwell, Tufton, and Lego -- as well as the home farm on Monticello mountain -- 130 enslaved African Americans raised crops and tended livestock, made nails and barrels, cloth and carriages. They helped to build the house, crafted many of its furnishings, and cultivated the gardens.

Monticello Hours
November 1 - February 28: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
March 1 - October 31: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Open every day of the year, including Sundays, except Christmas.

More information on Monticello's hours »

Tickets
Includes admission to the Grounds, House Tour, and other Seasonal Tours.

Children under 6: free
Children ages 6-11: $6.00
Adults: $14.00
Adult Groups of 25 or more: $11.00

Student Groups, K-12 (more information)
Mar. 1 - Oct. 31, $6.00
Nov. 1 - Feb. 28, $4.00

House Tour:
Guided tours of the home are limited to 25 people at a time and run every 4-5 minutes. They last approximately 30 minutes. Written translations of the house tour are available in Braille, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Russian. Because of fire codes and insurance restrictions, the second and third floors of the house are not open to the public.

Smoking and photography are not permitted in the house. Backpacks of any size and bags larger than 11" by 15" by 4" are not permitted in the house and must be left in the parking lot or at the Shuttle Station. Parents of an active child are asked to take turns viewing the house as a courtesy to other visitors.

We were driving back from Monticello and decided to stop at Michie’s Tavern for lunch. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet for a pretty reasonable price. The menu is based on recipes from the 18th century, when travelers would "fill up" because they never knew when they would get their next meal. Lunch was in an “Ordinary” which was a converted log cabin with the original hand-hewn wall and beamed ceilings. We read on our guide that Michie’s Tavern has welcomed travelers for more than 200 years. All the personnel there are dressed in 18th costumes and once there you could almost picture Jefferson stopping in for a pint and being involved in some political debate. Taverns served not only as a place to eat, drink and sleep, but also as the center of the community.

In 1746, Scotsman "Scotch John" Michie (pronounced "Mickey") purchased 1,152 acres of land from Patrick Henry's father, and in 1784, Michie's son, William, built this tavern on a well-traveled stagecoach route at Earlysville, 17 miles northwest of Charlottesville. A wealthy businesswoman, Josephine Henderson, saw its value as a historic structure and in 1927 had it moved to its present location and reconstructed. Michie Tavern stands today as a tribute to early preservationists.

Included in the 30-minute living-history tours are the Virginia Wine Museum and reproductions of the "dependencies" -- log kitchen, dairy, smokehouse, icehouse, root cellar, and "necessary" (note the not-so-soft corncobs). The general store has been re-created, along with an excellent crafts shop and the Printer's Market, offering newspapers, money, and other early American printed items. Behind the store is a gristmill that has operated continuously since 1797.

This is the entrance sign for Mitchie Tavern as you are coming down the hill from Monticello.

There is a nice Mill and Gift shop located there too.

In the bottom of the Tavern there is a gift shop also.

You have to pass Mitchie Tavern and Mill as you climb the mountain on your way to Monticello.

It is beautiful big white building you can't miss it..