Visiting Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest in Virginia: Tour the Retreat of America’s 3rd President

Monticello is Jefferson’s iconic home. His genius is reflected in the architecture, books, and mementos inside. But it was not a place to escape adoring visitors. As many as 50 guests would spend the night there during Jefferson’s post-presidency years. It was a crowded, noisy place for a man who needed his space to think.

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest: Virginia’s Most Overlooked Presidential Site

Jefferson’s real retreat is a small house in central Virginia that he had started building in the last few years of his presidency. Poplar Forest near Lynchburg was Jefferson’s escape from the public and a place where he could read and ponder.

The Seclusion of An Octagon

Poplar Forest is still a secluded property. Thomas Jefferson had inherited it from his father-in-law in 1773 and turned it into a money-making plantation. Enslaved workers grew tobacco and wheat there for decades. But the land’s private nature motivated Jefferson to spend extended periods there. He would need to design and build a house.

True to his talent as an architect, Jefferson designed the retreat in an octagon. In size, it seems quite small. But, as you walk through its rooms, you witness the results of Jefferson’s imagination as you would at Monticello or the University of Virginia. 

Upon entering the home, you learn that Jefferson did not design it for visitors. From the front entrance, you walk through a small entryway and directly into the dining room, a square-shaped room at the center of an octagon. Every other room circles the dining room. There are no windows in the dining room. But there is a 16-foot-long skylight across the ceiling. Jefferson opened the house to much natural light. You feel the sunshine in every room.

A Simple Design

Jefferson kept the design simple. Walk to the west to find his private bed chamber. Two spaces divided by an alcove for a bed. Here, he could read and study in peace. Jefferson kept a library of about 1,000 books at his personal retreat to keep his mind at work.

A mirror-image bed chamber for his granddaughters is at the opposite side of the house. Both chambers have staircases to the lower levels, where the kitchen and other working areas are located. You exit the building, get another incredible look at the rural location, and consider how an incredible building seems lost in the middle of rural Virginia.

You re-enter the lower level of Poplar Forest. To the east runs a 100-foot-long service wing that houses the kitchen, smokehouse, laundry, and storage areas… all part of Jefferson’s unique approach to the daily functions of a 19th-century plantation home. Jefferson built this busy wing on the east side of the home, away from his private chambers on the west. The design is part of his effort to keep the noise and bustle away from his sanctum.

An Incredible Transformation 

Thomas Jefferson started construction of the house in 1806. His first extended visit came in 1809, when he was in his sixties. He traveled to his summer retreat every year, making his last visit in 1823. For the next 150 years, under many owners, the house was damaged by fire and remodeled. Then in 1989, an incredible transformation began. It took 34 years to return Poplar Forest to the days of Jefferson’s visits.

There is still much more work to be done. Dwellings for enslaved people will be restored. Research continues to complete the story of Jefferson’s small, central Virginia creation. When you spend time walking through Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, you find another gem of American history still in the midst of a story that researchers are trying to uncover.

Photo Credits: KJMagnuson