Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc.

Monticello is owned and operated by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., which was founded in 1923. As a private, nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, the Foundation receives no ongoing federal, state, or local funding in support of its dual mission of preservation and education. During its existence, the Foundation has steadily expanded Monticello’s functions and holdings. Its stewardship now includes approximately 2,500 of Jefferson’s 5,000 acres, of which more than 1,400 are held under protective easements. The 2004 purchase of Montalto, the neighboring mountain that rises 400 feet above Monticello, represents the Foundation’s most significant land acquisition. In addition to the David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center and Carl and Hunter Smith Education Center, large capital projects have included the Jefferson Library and the Saunders-Monticello Trail, both of which were dedicated in 2002. The Foundation’s major restoration projects in recent years have included restoring and replacing Jefferson’s roof system on the house; installing a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system; placing new, historically accurate roofing on the South Pavilion; installing Jefferson-era louvered Venetian enclosures on the South Piazza; restoring the North Cellar Passage; and renovating and refurnishing the Cook’s Room, Beer Cellar, Kitchen, and Wine Cellar. In 2018, the Foundation completed the Mountaintop Project, a multi-year effort to restore Monticello as Jefferson knew it, and to tell the stories of the people—enslaved and free—who lived and worked on the 5,000-acre plantation.

Mission: Chartered in 1923, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation remains committed to a twofold mission: Preservation: to conserve, protect, and maintain Monticello for future generations; and Education: to interpret and present Thomas Jefferson and his world. Vision: In ten years, Monticello will be recognized as the country’s premier historical destination for visitors of all ages, from all nations, on site and online. Our dedicated staff leverages the power of a beautiful, resonant, and carefully preserved historic site to tell unflinching stories of America’s complex origins and fitful progress toward the ideals Jefferson articulated in the Declaration of Independence. As a civil society organization, we help to build skills that allow all people to activate their self-governing potential. We seek to restore faith in the vitality of the American experiment, honestly explored and perpetually renewed.