Monticello

As Evie noted in her blog of yesterday, we have taken this week as a vacation week. One of our stops was Monticello just outside Charlottesville Virginia. Besides his political involvement Jefferson had a scientific and inquisitive mind. I have downloaded his autobiography onto my Kindle to read in the coming months.

Josh in his comment on Evie’s blog asked about Jefferson’s clock at the entrance. The clock has two faces, one on the outside and one on the inside. As the photographs of the interior are prohibited, I could not get the picture of the inside clock. The photo is of the outside face that would greet visitors under the east portico. The seven day clock that he designed runs off two sets of pulleys that run down the wall in the house’s two story lobby. Each day is marked on the wall and the weights progress down the wall. As only six days could be accommodated, there is a whole in the floor to allow the seventh day (Saturday) to be in the basement.

On the ceiling under the east portico is a compass (above) that indicates the direction of the current wind. The system was designed by Jefferson. The needle indicating wind direction runs off the weather vane on the roof above the portico (below). Another interesting feature of the home is a system that closes both double doors at the same time. There are several double doors throughout the home. As you closes one door of the pair, the second via a below floor system will close along with it. Again the system is a Jefferson design.

Monticello is well worth visiting. As the weather was overcast, raining off and one, and chilly we did not take time to walk much of the grounds. I would love to set aside a full day to visit the Monticello and spend time taking in some of the other features of the estate.