Address:
Forest, VA
Owner:
The Corporation for
Jefferson's Poplar Forest
Forest, VA 24551
Completion Date: On going
As
construction of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello was nearing completion,
Jefferson began to construct Poplar Forest, his small octagonal retreat
outside Lynchburg, Virginia. Completed in 1809, Jefferson's brilliant
design of Poplar Forest was a pure, crystalline form manifesting all the
architectural tenets of the enlightenment. Jefferson himself recognized
its importance when he wrote that "it will be the best dwelling house
in the state, except that of Monticello; perhaps preferable to that, as
more proportioned to the faculties of a private citizen." Jefferson kept
his architectural achievement hidden from the public to protect his own
privacy.
In
1846, twenty years after Jefferson's death, Poplar Forest suffered a major
fire that left only the brick shell intact. Later owners made the house
into a common farm dwelling. In 1986, The Corporation for Jefferson's
Poplar Forest was formed to save and restore the house to the Jefferson
period. The firm was retained to prepare a historic structure report,
and are currently engaged in preparation of construction documents and
construction administration of the multi-phased complete restoration of
the house as Jefferson knew it. Structural stabilization work began in
1993, and restoration in 1995.