Jefferson’s adult daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph used this room as a sitting room and a place to manage the work of enslaved domestic servants. Martha and her husband, Thomas Mann Randolph, had 12 children, many of whom lived at Monticello during Jefferson’s retirement years. Enslaved families also lived at Monticello. As a 5,000 acre plantation, around 130 enslaved men, women, and children lived at Monticello at any given time. About 15 slaves worked in the house as domestic workers.
Virtual tours of this room
How to see this room: Included in all tours of Monticello.
Furnishings of Note
The 'Edgehill Portrait' of Thomas Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart
This room had tables and chairs for reading, writing, and sewing.
A silhouette of the Alexander von Humboldt is among the many hanging in this room. Learn more about this amazing famous and influential explorer.
A portrait of Martha Jefferson Randolph, painted by James Westhall Ford, hangs in a place of honor.
This sewing table was likely made in the Monticello Joiners’ Shop by enslaved master woodworker John Hemmings.
A Rumford fireplace altered by Jefferson to burn – in a more efficient manner – wood instead of coal.
Bookboxes fill the alcove as they did when Martha used this room.