Monticello
Historic House · Charlottesville, Virginia
Thomas Jefferson's house on a small mountain outside Charlottesville, begun in 1769, torn about and rebuilt for forty years, and never really finished. It is the only private home in the United States on the UNESCO World Heritage list, it is the building on the back of the nickel, and the plantation around it was worked by more than six hundred enslaved people over Jefferson's lifetime — a fact the site now puts at the centre of the visit rather than in a footnote.
931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22902, United States
Open daily except Christmas Day. Generally 9 AM - 5 PM, with shorter hours in winter. House tours are timed and must be booked. Free on 4 July.