Monticello and Ash Lawn-Highland, VA

I feel very fortunate to have opportunities that I do with travel . . . this one was a little unexpected but it was on my list of historical things to do while living in VA. I made this trip with about 60 fourth graders and it was a blast. The first stop was Ashlawn-Higland. This is a historic house museum, 535-acre working farm, and performing arts site in Albemarle County, Virginia. President James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe of New York, owned Ash Lawn-Highland from 1793 to 1826 and made it their official residence from 1799 to 1823. After the Monroes' death, the name of their farm was changed from "Highland" to "Ash Lawn"; today both names are used. We toured his home and grounds plus there was a neat demonstration about weaponry of the day/living the plantation. I would highly recommend making this part of your visit if you are in the Charlottesville area. In fact, Monticello and Ash Lawn can be made into a day of historic fun!
That’s exactly what we did! After the Ash Lawn-Highland tour, we made our way to Monticello. During lunchtime, slowly, the weather turned from chilly and gray to soaking wet and cold! Then, by the time the buses arrived at Monticello, the rain was steady and the fog was settling in. The fog was so thick that when you looked ahead, you could not see more than 25 yards. At one point, I looked at the backside of Monticello from Thomas Jefferson’s garden and it gave me a chill. I was actually spooked because it was the perfect setting for a ghost story. Yikes! To top it off, nearly ¾ the way through the tour, you are given the chance to roam the grounds. President Jefferson is buried on the grounds and you are permitted to visit his graveside. I walked to his memorial (through the thick fog, a little creeped out) to discover that we were there on his birth date. That was truly an accident because when I talked to the 4th Grade Teaching Chair to tell her what I had discovered, she reacted the same way I did. She was like, “No way, what coincidence.” I was sure to mention that to the students and they all got a kick out of it as well.

**I actually took a picture of the spookiness so be sure to check that out.**

Seriously, the grounds and President Jefferson’s home was really something to see. I wish that I could have been sneaky and took pictures inside but the household guides watched you like a hawk and threatened to take your camera if they caught you photographing after been warned. They were serious.

The rooms that I most enjoyed inside Monticello were President Jefferon’s library and bedroom. Each had so much character. He had so many inventions that I just could not believe it. President Jefferson designed the house himself and the things that I found to be so neat was the use of alcove beds to maximize space, skylights for use of natural lighting and President Jefferson’s closet.

In his bedroom he had a skylight and a partition wall to form a bed between his study/office and his bedroom. He had an alcove and a closet above. You would never know that it was a closet because it was simply visible from his bedroom or study as holes in the wall near the ceiling. The closet was reached by a steep stair or ladder. The closet was a simple, narrow hallway that was located directly above his alcove bed. The elliptical openings in the wall were there for ventilation. He was definitely innovative and it was super neat to see his ideas on simple living—luxuries of the time.