Monticello Part 2

Our upstairs tour.

There are 4 levels to Monticello total. Basement, main floor, second story and third story. The second floor has windows on the floor level and the third story has only sky lights.

East Front

The first windows you see there are from the Madison room.

West Front - Pay attention to the portico and the dome room.

We went in the door that you normally exit, and then up the stairs to the second floor, above the Madison room. (See first picture where I note the window on the floor level. 

 Floor level windows. The ceilings are the standard 8 foot ceilings of the time.

 This is the room that is believed to be where Lafayette stayed when he visited Monticello.

Alcove bed. These were in multiple places in Monticello. Jefferson's, Madison's room, this room, his daughter's room on the other side of the second floor. He felt beds took up too much room and wasted space, so he put them in the wall. He also liked these octagonal rooms because you did not have any sharp angles and dark corners. 

From the second floor to the third floor - the stairs. 

They had about an 8 inch rise. You can see all the way to the basement. 

We headed up to the third floor to this room, that was most likely a room where multiple children slept. This room is on the east front of the house. (I pointed out the skylights in the first photo.)

 This room has two recesses in the wall where alcove beds were placed. The wall section, below picture, to the right, is where the chimneys from below pass up. They probably helped keep the room warm.

Stairs to the roof.

Door to the storage room, on the west side of the house. The hole in the door? It's so the cats can get in and out to kill the mice.

Then down the hall to the Dome Room. My favorite. 

Next post.