931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville, VA, USA

© Wikipedia

Thomas Jefferson, an American aristocrat, diplomat and president, was the architect of a single building on which he worked throughout his life. The house was his Virginia mansion, the famed Monticello. While the look of the plantation villa was traditional, its technological side was revolutionary. The many engineering novelties included a flush toilet, dumb-waiter, a letter-copying device (a muscle-powered Xerox machine) and much else. This was, in short, the prototypical home of a mad scientist. One can imagine Jefferson torturing James Bond in one of the mansion’s great cellar spaces. Architects’ own homes, especially in the 20th century, have been laboratories of invention. Jefferson’s home is the first in this line.

Book room © Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello / Robert Lautman