Touring Poplar Forest – Summer Home of Thomas Jefferson
Most everyone knows that Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, is in Charlottesville, VA but did you know that he had a summer home?
Poplar Forest, located in Forest, VA, was Jefferson’s summer home.
Touring Poplar Forest – Summer Home of Thomas Jefferson
When Jefferson became president in 1801, Poplar Forest was a 4,500-acre plantation. The plantation was purchased by Jefferson in 1806 and transformed into a private retreat.
The Outside of Poplar Forest
When entering the property, you drive down the road seen here.
Then you see the front of Poplar Forest.
Poplar Forest gets its name from the giant Poplar trees surrounding it.
My first visit to Poplar Forest was on a field trip in 1995. A funny thing happened here that I and my teacher friends will never forget.
The tour guide asked the kids, “Why do you think Poplar Forest is named Poplar Forest?” A girl raised her hand and said, “Because Thomas Jefferson was so popular.” None of the kids laughed but after the field trip was over, my teacher friends, and I hee-hawed over what she said.
The circular driveway has recently been restored. The box that you see shows what the original driveway looked like.
To the left is a wing very similar to Monticello.
Mulberry trees are planted to the right of the home.
The back side of Poplar Forest is just as beautiful as the front side. The rooms in the wing served as offices and service areas.
This is what Poplar Forest looked like many years after Thomas Jefferson’s life ended. My friend, Martha, remembers visiting here in her childhood to play with friends.
Jefferson designed mounds for either side of his home to complement the architecture.
Beside each mound is a privy.
Have you ever used a privy? I did once in my childhood. Blah! This privy is missing the corn cobs.
An herb garden maintained by the Hill City Master Gardener Association is at the rear of the property.
These buildings were slave houses and you also can see the other privy.
There is an interesting exhibit in one room of the slave quarters.
This replica shows the size of other slave quarters that were on the grounds of Poplar Forest during Jefferson’s time.
My second visit to Poplar Forest was on another field trip and the kids had a great time with hands-on exhibits in this building.
These buildings have been added since my last visit.
A tour of Poplar Forest begins here. When you visit, don’t miss the gift shop.
This was the site of a barn post-Jefferson’s time. A new road will cover this area so it is being dug for artifacts.
Touring the Inside of Poplar Forest
On my first visit to Poplar Forest, the inside was completely gutted. On my second visit, much work had been done. On this visit, I was very impressed with what has been accomplished for the restoration Poplar Forest.
This diagram shows all of Poplar Forest’s rooms.
Through the passageway you get a view of the dining room and parlor.
Northwest Chamber
This is the Northwest chamber.
Jefferson’s Bedchamber
Through the doorway is Jefferson’s bedchamber.
Jefferson’s bed was located in the opening.
Can you picture Thomas Jefferson sitting at his desk beside the fire?
Note the interesting design of the chair. The purpose of the back detail is so the chair wouldn’t sink in the grass when used outdoors.
A second fireplace was located on the opposite side of the bedchamber.
Jefferson had chimney covers made to keep smoke out of the room when only one fireplace was being used.
Dining Room
In the middle of the home is the dining room.
All of the millwork has been reconstructed using Poplar from the property or adjoining properties. These items still need to be added.
The millwork will eventually be painted white like it was in Jefferson’s day.
The Parlor
In Thomas Jefferson’s day, flower beds lined the edges of the recessed area in the yard.
The contraption on the table allowed Jefferson to make a copy of a letter as he wrote.
The opposite side of the room shows Jefferson’s favorite chair for relaxing and a few of his books.
The bookcase is made from boxes used to ship Jefferson’s books to the White House. It took 10 wagon loads to transport Jefferson’s books there.
Girls’ Room
Jefferson’s granddaughters traveled with him when he went to Poplar Forest.
Note the holes in the wall where moulding and chair rail were attached.
Northwest Chamber
The Northeast and Northwest chambers served as guest rooms.
The sign over the fireplace is a timeline of the house’s history after Jefferson’s time.
Wing Rooms
One room served as the kitchen.
For the time period, this was a very modern kitchen.
One room was used for weaving.
This room was a guest chamber.
Basement
A wine cellar was located in the Poplar Forest basement.
I particularly enjoyed seeing relicts that have been found on the property in the basement exhibit.
If you ever travel to central Virginia, make time to tour Poplar Forest!
Just for Fun
My friend lives in Thomas Jefferson’s nephew’s hunting cabin. The original hitching post is still in the yard.
Visit my travel page to enjoy more tours and trip recaps.
I visited Poplar Forest years ago while under renovation. I need to return. Poplar Forest certainly has lots af history and such a shame that it was neglected in the past.
You definitely need to tour it again!
Hi Paula! Oh, this is one of my and my husband’s favorite things to do! We love exploring and touring old historic places. I don’t believe we’ve ever been here but have been to Monticello and it was spectacular. Now I want to come here. Thank you for all of the lovely photos and now it seems like I have toured it with you. Yes, I know about a privy (we just called them an outhouse. My little grandparents lived on a farm in Alabama and they had an outhouse! Read lots of Sears catalogues back in the day in there! 🙂
Be a sweetie,
Shelia 😉
Thank you for sharing your memories, Shelia! Mama didn’t have indoor plumbing until she was in college.
I’ve never heard of of Poplar Forest. I’d love to visit there.
I have used a privy. We always called it the outhouse. I was always terrified of all the spiders in it & would beg someone to go look for spiders before I went inside. My family would be so frustrated with me.
I was born in 1966 & we did not have indoor plumbing until the early 1970s. We hauled water from a well just outside the door…I say we…I was a baby so obviously I did not haul water. We did have electricity. My mother heated water on the stove & we took baths in a metal washtub. She had a wringer washing machine (electric) so she did laundry partly by hand because she had to feed each piece of clothing through the wringer. She never let us help with it because she was afraid we’d get our hands crushed. My older sister did get her hand pulled in once but she was only bruised thankfully. I remember learning to wash my hair in a big bucket outside in the summer time. To this day I cannot wash my hair well in the shower. I have to bend over the sink because it doesn’t feel right to clean it any other way.
We also had a wood burning cook stove that my mother used. We had an electric stove too but in the winter she cooked on the wood stove as much or more than the electric stove. And when big storms came with long power outages, neighbors came to use the stove & cook for their families. It had an oven so she baked in it as well.
Thank you so much for sharing your memories! Mama didn’t have indoor plumbing until she was in college.
You always take the most interesting trips and share such great history. I think it’s the teacher in you! I love that. I’ve heard of this home, but never visited. I’ve also used an outhouse (although privy sounds much nicer) in high school, we used to go out to the Hamptons to a friend’s house on weekends. We used to stay in cabins on the property that were used for migrant farm workers and there wasn’t any plumbing, just rough spaces. It wasn’t pleasant!!
Privies are so yucky! Mama didn’t have indoor plumbing until she was in college.
Thank you for sharing. I will add this to my spring travel (I live in New Kent County, Va – home of 2 First Ladies).
I would love to visit your area of Virginia!
In ever knew he had a summer home. SO interesting!! Wow, it is a beautiful home on the inside and outside. This would be a great field trip!!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
I so much enjoyed touring Poplar Forest.
This looks really interesting! It’s nice that the history is still standing so you can visit and tour it! 🙂
Hope you are having a great weekend 🙂 We had a quiet day yesterday as we had a big day at the zoo on Friday – we got to feed a giraffe!
Feeding giraffes sounds like so much fun!
What an interesting post! I had never heard of Popular Forest. It is beautiful. Virginia is rich in history.
Thanks so much for sharing your trip,
Suzanne
I am so glad that you enjoyed this post!
I enjoyed this post so much! As soon as I told my husband. The first thing hebrought up was the tool to make a copy
We love history!
Thank you so much, Cindy!
I did not about Poplar Forest but I have never been to visit. I have been to Monticello many many times. My favorite part of both houses are the best between the walls, to keep you warm!
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful tour!
Thank you so much, Elizabeth! My middle name is Elizabeth!
Thanks for the tour, Paula! What an interesting layout for the house! What an historical treasure. I loved the story about why it’s named Poplar House! Ha!
We got so many laughs out of what the little girl said! She was a real ding-dong!
What a wonderful trip! The circular driveway brought me memories of growing up with my grandparents and the circular driveway. It was so wonderful to remember!
So glad that my post brought up good memories for you!
This place looks phenomenal, Paula! I pinned it, and hope to be able to visit there sometime soon. I started reading this post over a week ago and never got to finish it until today. Those chairs are awesome, and believe it or not, Mr. P. attended a one-room schoolhouse that had an outdoor privy! It made an indelible impression, needless to say. Thanks for sharing this gem. We’ve been to Monticello but not Poplar Forest.
Thank you so much, Rita! I so much enjoyed visiting Poplar Forest.
What a great tour, Paula! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm–pinned!
Thank you so much, Cecilia!
Thanks Paula! Looks like a great day trip or overnighter for us as we live near Frederick, MD. We have been to Monticello but I would love to tour Poplar Forest.
My dad’s family is from Middletown! I hope that you plan a trip this way soon. You also could tour Appomattox and visit Black Dog Salvage in Roanoke. Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway would be a bonus if you plan an October trip.
Thank you for the lovely tour. With the pandemic and my SO’s health problems, our touring has been severely curtailed. This was a mini-vacay without the inconvenience of travel!
I am so glad that you enjoyed this post, Kathy!
Paula, fun post!! I love history and if you haven’t been to the History Traveler on YouTube, he did a tour of The Poplar awhile back, so it was especially nice to see your photographs so I could really refresh my memory! 🙂 Happy to have featured your post at this week’s Share Your Style #318 for you. Great place to visit!
Hugs,
Barb 🙂
Thank you so much, Barbara!