For the Gadling series “World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love” we are covering the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites will not be posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list.
Number 4
Name of Site: Thomas Jefferson Buildings
Location: Poplar Forest and Richmond, Virginia
Reason for importance in a nutshell: Though he had no formal training in architecture, Thomas Jefferson had a genius for drawing and constructing buildings. His home estate Monticello and the University of Virginia by his design are already on the World Heritage list. Poplar Forest and the State Capitol building (pictured) would be additions to this.
Grant’s Take: I’m always baffled by Jefferson’s areas of expertise. In addition to being the third President of the United States, he was obviously an acclaimed architect as well as an archaeologist, university founder, scholar, wine lover, writer and philosopher. I’ll be lucky if I get to one of those in my life.
No better example of Thomas Jefferson’s architectural talent exists than in Virginia. The UVA campus is a beautiful example of his work and I see more of this excellence in his Poplar Forest estate and Richmond Capitol building. All three of these sites are definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Richmond or even Washington DC area.