Tifton Scene September 2022 | Page 35

A kitchen with an expansive fireplace is in the home ’ s service wing .
The villa and surrounding landscape , each designed by Jefferson , a self-taught architect who oversaw Poplar Forest ’ s construction , evidence the owner ’ s preference for symmetry , octagons and designs experienced during his European travels . The home is an equal-sided octagon with a main floor composed of four elongated octagonal rooms surrounding a 20-foot cube housing the dining room accentuated with a large skylight . The villa is entered from the north portico and through a passage leading to the dining room . The south-facing parlor / library is enhanced with sunlight from two expansive floor-to-ceiling windows on each side of an exterior glass door . Rooms on the east and west sides of the home served as bedrooms ( Jefferson ’ s on the west ), each split in the middle with an alcove bed .
A lower level of the villa , visible only from the back ( south ) is similar in layout to the main floor and was utilized for storage and as living space for enslaved and free workmen . A service wing jutting from the home ’ s east side housed a kitchen , laundry , smokehouse and a room likely used for storage . A unique octagonal brick privy stands an appropriate distance from each side of the home , requiring that occupants undertake an uncomfortable walk on cold nights . Jefferson had his own private privy in the villa ’ s lower level .
Following two terms as president , Jefferson would make the two- to three-day trip to Poplar Forest three or four times per year for stays lasting up to two months . The plantation was then home to nearly 100 slaves and served as a source of Jefferson ’ s income , primarily from raising tobacco . His final visit was in 1823 when he assisted grandson Francis Eppes and Eppes ’ family move into the villa . Jefferson , who would die three years later , anticipated Eppes would raise his family at Poplar Forest . However , two years after Jefferson ’ s death the grandson sold the plantation and moved to Florida . The house would subsequently suffer a major fire in 1845 , pass through several owners , and go through extensive alterations before being acquired in 1983 by the Corporation for Jefferson ’ s
SEPTEMBER 2022 | TiftonScene 35