Jeffersonian House Plan, The Jefferson, #60
A house in the style of Thomas Jefferson’s first Monticello.
Style
Jeffersonian; common, 1772 – 1840 in the mid-Atlantic states; revived occasionally, nationwide. (For more of the style, please see The Beautiful Home Treatise, #17C, The Rivanna.)
Jeffersonian house plan, #60, The Jefferson, Plan and Elevation.
Introduction
The Jeffersonian style is the creation of our third President, Thomas Jefferson, statesman, political philosopher, author, historian, scientist, planter, an architect who composed verse, an American genius. The Jeffersonian encompasses elements gathered from all of history, selected with taste, composed in reason.
You will find in the Jeffersonian a Roman precedent, a Palladian organization, a French Bourbon elegance, an American eloquence. In precedent:
of the Roman, the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian; Temple of Gaius and Lucius Caesar (the Maison Carrée);
of Palladio, Villa Almerico Capra (La Rotonda), Villa Badoer (La Badoera), Villa Cornaro;
of French Bourbon, Hôtel de Salm;
of pattern-books, Palladio’s The Four Books of Architecture, Gibb’s Book of Architecture;
the Virginia State Capitol Building, ascended from the Maison Carrée;
Monticello, ascended from the Hôtel de Salm.
Characteristics
A central pediment over a Doric portico, with fanlight.
Low pitched, gabled and hipped roofs.
Three-part temple – central pediment and wings – on a raised foundation.
An entablature of broad white bands.
The tall windows are shuttered.
The skin is red brick, the columns are limestone or treated to resemble limestone.
A distinguishing Jefferson dome, octagon.
Bi-laterally symmetrical.
Features
This house of the Jeffersonian type will be at home in any middle-class American neighborhood, adapted, as it is, from Jefferson’s first, humble Monticello, constructed for him and his wife, Martha. At 2,865 gsf, the home is just larger than the typical three bedroom norm, a bit more spacious, more elegant. The façade is well proportioned, beautiful; the generous entrance opens to a roomy circle stair with views to the low-domed, second floor gallery. There is on the first floor a dining kitchen with pantry, and a full family room with tucked-away powder room; also, a cozy entertainment room with bookshelves and media cabinet (there is extra storage beneath the wrap-around seating). The second floor has Jack & Jill bedrooms with a separate bathing suite that opens to a balcony (a second design includes private baths with a passage to the balcony); the master suite is oversized, with a huge walk-in closet, and an over-generous bathing suite capable of numerous design variations. This Jeffersonian, “The Jefferson”, house #60, is a home in the style of Thomas Jefferson’s first Monticello, a traditional design updated for how we live today, easy, convenient, and homey.
Jeffersonian House Plan, #60, The Jefferson
A house in the style of Thomas Jefferson’s first Monticello.
House-plans of this series include:
Other Jeffersonian style house-plans include:
#17A, 3,400 gsf
#17B, 4,629 gsf
#17C, 5,495 gsf
#17D; 2,950 gsf
Portfolio of Images
Precedent, Character, Quality
Jefferson’s sketch of the first Monticello.
Model of Jefferson’s first Monticello
Jefferson’s drawing on the first Monticello.
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A portfolio of images, “Material, Texture, Color” for all #17 Jeffersonian Homes, can be found at the bottom of the #17C, Rivanna page.
For more Michael Curtis architecture and design, visit The Classical Artist.
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Jeffersonian house plan #60, The Jefferson, Front Elevation.
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Commission Houseplan
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