Near Lynchburg,
Virginia, USA, there was a plantation and a plantation house that belonged to Thomas Jefferson, third President of the USA. It was called Poplar Forest and was his private retreat. He worked on this site from 1806 until he died in 1826. At first, he intended bequeathing it to his youngest daughter, Mary Jefferson Eppes, but since she died at age 26, he gifted it to her son, Francis W. Eppes.
Though Jefferson was known as the architect of world-famous buildings like Monticello, the University of Virginia and the Virginia State Capitol, he designed Poplar Forest as a private getaway. In 1970, it was honored as a National Historic Landmark and is now a house museum.
In 1773, Jefferson inherited a 4,800 acre estate from his father-in-law. In 1806, he laid the foundation of an octagonal house, built according to Palladian construction principles. It had a central cube room on one side and to the north and south, apart from porticos and a service wing on the east.
When Jefferson's grandson inherited this estate from him, he and his bride lived there for a short while and sold it in 1828 to move to Florida. It was then bought and sold several times by its owners and its acreage also reduced.
In 1805, his workers built a lavish landscape, inspired by European gardens that surrounded his office wings and house. They built a grove, a sunken lawn, a pit for flowers, clumps of trees and mounds.
