May 2022

Saving Monticello: The Newsletter

The latest about the book, author events, and more

Newsletter Editor - Marc Leepson 

Volume XIX, Number 5                                                           May 2022

“The study of the past is a constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery.” – Eric Foner 

A LARGER HOUSE: As I noted in Saving Monticello, and in just about every talk I have done in the last two decades about the book, historic preservationists have long praised Uriah and Jefferson Levy for only making minimal changes to the house and grounds during their 89-year ownership. That fact—and that the Levys themselves repaired and preserved the house—made it infinitely easier for the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation to restore the house and grounds when they purchased it from Jefferson Levy in 1923. 

Most importantly for preservationists, unlike the subsequent owners of Montpelier, James Madison’s plantation not far from Monticello, the Levys never added onto the house. Nor did they knock down any walls. Jefferson Levy replaced Thomas Jefferson’s roof, modernized the plumbing, and added electricity and dormer windows during his 1879-1923 ownership. But that was extent of the physical changes when the Levys owned the house. 

The one fly in the preservation ointment came in 1895 after Jefferson Levy had owned Monticello for 16 years and had poured tens of thousands of dollars into repairing, restoring, and furnishing the house. It came about after the October 27, 1895, fire at the University of Virginia that destroyed the Thomas Jefferson-designed Rotunda (below) overlooking the University’s Lawn. 

U-Va. hired McKim, Mead and White, one of the nation’s top architectural firms, to rebuild the Rotunda. Stanford White (1853-1906) himself—the famed designer of the old Madison Square Garden who was considered the premier American architect of his day—took charge of the project.    

      

The process took more than three years. While White was in Charlottesville working on the Rotunda restoration, “he was approached by Mr. [Jefferson] Levy,” according to William M. Thornton, then the dean of the U-Va. Engineering Department. “Mr. Levy told him that he wanted, very often, to entertain a number of guests at Monticello. It has thirty-odd rooms, but, still he needed more rooms.  Now, he said, ‘I want you gentlemen to take up the question of adding to Monticello.’” 

White responded by sending one of his firm’s New York architects to the mountaintop to have a “careful survey made” of Monticello. After going over the results of the study, White declined to do the enlargement. 

This is what Stanford White wrote to Jefferson Levy about his decision: 

“We have looked into your proposal to add to Monticello and we beg to report to you that we must decline the engagement. We think that no architect could add to Monticello without spoiling it. If you want a larger house, we would be very glad to build you a larger house, but we must decline to add to Monticello.” 

It appears that Jefferson Levy learned a lesson. There is no evidence that during the remaining 26 years of his ownership of Monticello that he entertained any ideas of expanding or otherwise altering Thomas Jefferson’s “Essay in Architecture.” More importantly, the highly successful lawyer and stock speculator continued to spend large sums of money, repairing, maintaining and preserving Monticello. 

THE LEVYS DOC:  “The Levys of Monticello,” my friend and colleague Steven Pressman’s terrific documentary that tells the post-Jefferson history of Monticello, continues to make the film festival rounds. There will be two in-person screenings at the Washington Jewish Film Festival, including post-screening discussions and Q&As on Sunday, May 15, in Bethesda, Md., and on Tuesday, May 17, in D.C. Details and tickets at https://bit.ly/DCFilmFesti 

The doc was screened at the Aaron Family JCC in Dallas’ Zale Auditorium as part of that city’s Jewish Film festival on May 2; and two screenings were held in late April at the River Run International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 

Steve, by the way, just launched a new website with info on all of his films. Take a look at https://bit.ly/SteveWebSite 

EVENTS: I’ll be doing a talk on the Civil War Battle of Monocacy and the subsequent Confederate attack on Washington, D.C.—the subject of my book, Desperate Engagement—on Thursday, May 19, for the The Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, May 24, I’ll be in Locust Grove, Virginia, to do a talk on Saving Monticello for the Wilderness ‘Tiques Questers group. On Thursday, May 26, I’ll be speaking about the book to the Farmington Historical Society in Charlottesville.

If you’d like to arrange an event for Saving Monticello or for any of my other books, email me at marcleepson@gmail.com

For details on other upcoming events, check the Events page on my website:  https://bit.ly/NewAppearances

GIFT IDEAS:  Want a personally autographed, brand-new paperback copy of Saving Monticello? Please e-mail marcleepson@gmail.com  I also have a few as-new, unopened hardcover copies, along with a good selection of brand-new copies of my other books: Flag: An American Biography; Desperate Engagement; What So Proudly We Hailed; Flag: An American Biography; and Ballad of the Green Beret: The Life and Wars of Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler.