ABSTRACT
Thomas Jefferson certainly knew Buckland's Gunston Hall, which was built for George Mason, who was a friend of Jefferson. At Monticello, Jefferson created essentially a single story building with very tall rooms. The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Jefferson's masterpiece, was meant to be a symbol of the American spirit. Although Monticello is one of the great pieces of architecture of its time, it is not the precursor of an American style of architecture. While Jefferson's designs are masterpieces, they did not contribute to the development of an original American architecture. Jefferson's work at the University of Virginia illustrates the struggle that was inherent in Classicism. The buildings of the deeper South did not contribute to the creation of an original American architecture either. It was in the North that American architecture began to show individualism like Buckland's, supported by the merchant, the entrepreneur, and the nascent nouveau riche class.
