ENLIGHTENMENT ARCHITECTURE

Amazing buildings inspired by neoclassical and rococo ideas

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1 MONTICELLO

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, USA

Drawing from the Classical Revival movement of the Enlightenment, Monticello was famously the home of United States Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. It was built between 1768 and 1809, with a bulk of the construction being completed in 1784 when Jefferson left for France to be America's representative there. Here he was exposed to the revival of interest in ancient Roman architecture that had swept through the Continent and began his plans for expansions and revisions to Monticello. The mansion we see today is the result of those plans with its 35 rooms, each a different shape, its massive gardens and central octagonal dome, which was the first of its kind in America.

The site passed through several hands following Jefferson's death, leaving behind debts that needed to be paid. It was seized by the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Eventually, following campaigns to have the building in public hands, it was purchased by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923 and major restoration work began to bring the building and its grounds back to the state they enjoyed under Jefferson's care. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, Monticello remains part of the University of Virginia campus.

Open daily from 10am to 4:30pm. Tickets range from $22 to $99 for adults for different parts of the grounds

2 CHISWICK HOUSE

LONDON, ENGLAND