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Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is a truly astounding residence designed by the man himself. Best known for writing the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States was also an avant grade architect. His favorite style was Palladian, he was once quoted as saying Palladio’s “I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura” as his bible. Monticello is such a perfect example of Palladian architecture that it has been named a World Heritage Site, the only home in the United States to receive this honor. Construction began in 1768, Jefferson first moved in, in 1770, occupying the South Pavillion. Jefferson modeled much of Monticello on the Palladian buildings and ruins he saw during his extended travels to Europe. The house has a total of forty-three rooms, 33 in the house it self, four in the pavilion and six under the South Terrace. There is about 11,000 s/f of living space. The bricks were made at the site of construction, as were the nails. Most of the structural timber came from Jefferson’s own land, while most of the window sashes were made in Philadelphia of imported mahogany. The window glass came from Europe. Stone for the cellars and the East Front columns, and limestone for making mortar, were quarried on Jefferson’s land. Because Jefferson died more than $107,000 in debt, his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph and her son and financial manager, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, found it necessary first to sell nearly all of the contents of Monticello and then to sell the plantation itself. In 1827, the furniture, animals, farm equipment, and slaves were offered at an executor's sale. In 1831, James T. Barclay, a local apothecary, purchased the home and 552 acres for $4,500, less the value of his own home. Unsuccessful in his attempts to cultivate silk worms there, he offered Monticello for sale barely two years later. In 1834, Uriah P. Levy, a naval officer who admired Jefferson's views on religious tolerance, purchased the house. Levy died in 1862 and bequeathed Monticello to the government if certain conditions were met. During the Civil War, the Confederacy seized and sold the property. After the war, the government declined the terms of Levy's request, and Levy's heirs contested the ownership. Not until years of litigation had passed did Jefferson Monroe Levy, Uriah P. Levy's nephew, take possession in 1879. Both uncle and nephew strove to preserve Monticello as a memorial to Jefferson. In 1923, Jefferson Monroe Levy sold Monticello to the newly created Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns Monticello today.