Poplar Forest, located in Bedford County, was Thomas Jefferson‘s villa retreat. Jefferson’s wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, inherited the Poplar Forest land from her father in 1773, and work on the distinctive octagonal house began in 1806. Although the house was framed by 1809, the year he retired from public service, Jefferson finished Poplar Forest slowly, directing work on the property until his death in 1826. Located about seventy miles from Monticello, Jefferson’s second home became more than just a getaway; it served as an inspiration as he worked on its idealistic, innovative, and modern design, which integrated architecture and landscape. Poplar Forest’s design shows the influence of ancient Roman, Renaissance, and eighteenth-century French and English architecture. It was the first octagonal house in America and one of the few houses built to Jefferson’s designs that survive. It was also an intimate place where Jefferson spent time with his family. After Jefferson’s death, ownership of the house and property passed to his grandson, Francis Eppes, who had resided there with his family since 1823, the year of Jefferson’s last visit. In 1828 Eppes sold it and the surrounding 1,074 acres to a neighboring farmer. Poplar Forest was privately owned until 1984, when it was purchased by a group of local citizens that had formed the nonprofit Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. The house opened to the public in 1986. The archaeological excavation of the grounds and the restoration of the house and grounds began in 1990.
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