September 13, 2010
We made our first trip to Poplar Forest which is close to Lynchburg. Poplar Forest was Thomas Jefferson's plantation and plantation house which he designed and treated as a private retreat, working on it from 1806 until his death 20 years later. Jefferson once wrote, "It is the most valuable of my possessions."
Although better known for such buildings as Monticello, the University of Virginia, and the Virginia State Capitol, he built Poplar Forest to escape the hordes of visitors at Monticello and a place to seek the "solitude of a hermit."
In 1773 Jefferson inherited the 4,800 acre estate from his father-in-law. In 1806, while President, Jefferson supervised the foundation of the house. This octagon house, built in accordance with Palladian principles, includes a central cube room, porticoes to the north and south, and a service wing.
After a wonderful day, Stephen sits under the north portico awaiting his mint julep!
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