Charlottesville - Monticello

One of the finest country houses in the United States (featured on the reverse side of the five-cent coin) is Jefferson's villa of Monticello. He himself designed the Palladian-style mansion, beautifully situated on a hill, and continued altering and improving it over a period of forty years, from 1768 to 1809. The guided tour through the house shows the versatile genius of its owner, who eased the tasks of domestic life by a variety of inventions. To the rear of the house are the gardens, also designed by Jefferson. Below the gardens is the family cemetery, still in use, in which an obelisk marks Thomas Jefferson's grave.