It is clear to most that the politicians of today are no where near the caliber of our Founding Fathers, and we have been reminded of this fact quite frequently during this campaign season. For example, even John F. Kennedy knew where to tip his hat: in 1962 the former President was entertaining forty-nine Nobel Prize winners at the White House, where he said,
“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House—with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
If you find yourself needing a reminder of those who helped forge our nation, or want to gain some small insight into their lives, one suggestion is to visit their former homes—even the homes of Jefferson himself, perhaps.
While many know of Jefferson’s main retreat in Charlottesville, Virginia, called Monticello, fewer know of his summer home about 90 miles South in Forest, Virginia, called Poplar Forest.
Jefferson, also an architect especially excelling in the Palladian style, designed Poplar Forest to be his private retreat to get away from the constant interruptions and visitors at Monticello, and work began on the home in 1805. Jefferson wrote of his home in 1812:
“When finished, 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.”
Visitors to the home today can see the progress being made in restoring the house and grounds to what they would have been like in Jefferson’s time.
So if all the hot air in Washington gets you down, you may want to consider retreating to Poplar Forest, as Jefferson did, for some contemplation and rejuvenation.