Sunday, March 18, 2012

Jefferson Home



Mulberry's Row buildings have all but disappeared--only the remains of four survive.  Before re-creating lost buildings and roads, the historic site uses research from many sources. 
Sketch of Ice House (photo below)--Master carpenter James Dinsmore oversaw construction of Ice House to Jefferson's design in 1802.  Enslaved and hired workers filled it each year Rivanna River, shallow ponds, or snow collected from the mountaintop.  The ice usually lasted through the summer and was mainly used to preserve meat and butter and to chill wine, while snow was used to make ice cream.
"If it is now as cold with you as it is here I am in hopes you will be able and ready to fill the icehouse.  It would be a real calamity should we not have ice to do it, as it would require double the quantity of fresh meat in summer had we not ice to keep it."  --Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson Home
Home and Yard
Beer, made in breweries and in households, was a popular beverage throughout early America.  At Monticello, cider and beer were the "table liquors" typically served during dinner.  Jefferson's earliest designs for his plantation included spaces for brewing and the storage of beer.  This room is furnished as a storage cellar for beer.
In the early years, Jefferson followed British-American colonial taste for fortified wines like Madeira and port from Portugal.  Travels through the vineyards of France and Germany in 1787 gave Jefferson first-hand knowledge of lighter red and white wines.  These became his favorite in Paris, and remained so after his return to America.

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