Why build the mounds?

Thomas Jefferson’s landscape design of house and mounds may have been influenced by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio’s five-part villa plan of pavilion, hyphen, main block, hyphen, pavilion. In Jefferson’s design, a double row of trees replaced the hyphens and earthen mounds replaced the pavilions. Slaves created the mounds with soil from the house foundation and lawn. Jefferson directed that each mound be covered with Weeping Willows, Golden Willows, and Aspens, but five years later he asked that flowering shrubs be planted, suggesting the original trees may not have survived. Archaeologists have found a planting hole relating to Jefferson’s design on each mound, and future work will seek additional holes to understand the planting pattern and verify which plants were actually used. The work unfolded over time: in 1805-1806 the house basement was dug, in 1807-1808 the south lawn was dug, on Feb. 27, 1811 Jefferson specified weeping willows on top, golden willows around the middle, and aspens around the foot of each mound, on May 12, 1812 he ordered grass seed gathered and sown on bare ground, in Nov. 1812 he called for a double row of paper mulberries from the stairways to the mounds, on Dec. 5, 1812 Monto. Aspens and European mulberries were planted, and on Nov. 1, 1816 Althaeas, Gelder roses, lilacs, and calycanthus were planted in both mounds.

Forest, Virginia · United States