ABSTRACT
In a personal notebook begun in 1796, Thomas Jefferson first expressed his clear intention to employ a Renaissance dome framing method for his own dome construction for his home, Monticello, in Virginia. On pages six and seven of the remodelling notebook, his ambitious plan to construct a wooden saucer dome "in Delorme's Manner" over an oblong, octagonal "skyroom" at Monticello is discussed. The curious reference in Jefferson's notes to construct the dome "in Delorme's Manner" provides an important clue for speculating about the unseen structural details. "Delorme's Manner" alludes to an invention of Philibert Delorme, a prominent architect of the French court during the mid-16th century. Delorme published his ingenious invention in 1561 in a treatise entitled Inventions Pour Bien Bastir. The photographic documentation provided by Hart's X-rays substantiates the importance of Jefferson's cryptic reference to "Delorme's Manner". However, significant deviations were made from Delorme's illustrated details, both in the joinery and in the sizing of the framing members.
