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Notes on Blinds for Monticello, 24 March 1805

Notes on Blinds for Monticello

1805. Mar. 24.

instead of the Venetian blinds before planned for South Piazza, substitute these

	62. I.
	50. I.
	65. I.

the height of each blind 4 f. to wit to top of impost, because the lining of the jamb fills up the projection of the impost, and makes all flush. the jamb is but 13. I. thick

2. sashes from floor of Piazza to top of impost = 8 f .825 I. both to slide up.

height of sashes.	Upper one.	upper rail	2.	I.		breadth of sash. 1.75 + .25 × 4 + 1.75 + 11.75 × 5 = 63¼ I.
			.	25	I.	each sash then will contain 15. panes 11½ by 15. I.
			.	25	I.	each sash then will contain 15. panes 11½ by 15. I.
	lower do.	lower rail	1.		3.
	lower do.	upper rail	1.		3.
			.	25
			.	25	3.
		lower rail	2.
	6. panes of 15. I. each			7-4
				8-0

[on verso:]

	4 f - 5½
	arches & Jambs of the Porticle before the door of S.W. Bow room the imposts & arches are of the same height as those of the brick arches the plinth of the piers is 5. I. high & projects ⅝ I.	5 f - 5 I

MS (MHi); entirely in TJ’s hand; see Nichols, Architectural Drawings description begins Frederick Doveton Nichols, Thomas Jefferson’s Architectural Drawings, Compiled and with Commentary and a Check List, Charlottesville, 1978 description ends , No. 147p.

TJ sketched out a separate design for Venetian blinds for one of Monticello’s piazzas, but likely opted for the design above (MS in MHi, undated, entirely in TJ’s hand, see Nichols, Architectural Drawings description begins Frederick Doveton Nichols, Thomas Jefferson’s Architectural Drawings, Compiled and with Commentary and a Check List, Charlottesville, 1978 description ends , No. 147r; TJ to James Oldham, 14 June). TJ sketched a “manner of fixing Venetian blinds in the Porticos” that used hinges and hooks to enable the shades to be folded halfway up or fully out of the way (MS in same, undated, entirely in TJ’s hand; Nichols, Architectural Drawings description begins Frederick Doveton Nichols, Thomas Jefferson’s Architectural Drawings, Compiled and with Commentary and a Check List, Charlottesville, 1978 description ends , No. 147s).

The South Piazza was intended as a greenhouse and required a good means of regulating light. A small structure that TJ termed a Porticle adjoined each side of the piazza nearest the cabinet, or Bow room, and library. The porticles, built by John Hemings, were designed to admit air and light while preserving privacy (Jack McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder [New York, 1988], 321-5).

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Source Project: Jefferson Papers
Title: Notes on Blinds for Monticello, 24 March 1805
Author: Jefferson, Thomas
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Date: 24 March 1805

Reference

Cite as: “Notes on Blinds for Monticello, 24 March 1805,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-46-02-0097. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 46, 9 March to 5 July 1805, ed. James P. McClure et al. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022, pp. 95–96.]

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