First Restoration Phase, 1993-1998

The house changed dramatically during the first phase of hands-on restoration.  Craftsmen removed the stairway and second story that had been installed in Jefferson's dining room, and added eight feet of reproduction brick to the walls, returning the space to its original cube dimensions of 20’x20’x20’.

To add authenticity to the masonry, the restoration team developed a mortar based on samples of original mortar.  To recreate this mortar, masons combined three types of sand, two types of finely crushed dirt, and two types of lime, and pounded the ingredients as Jefferson's workers would have done.  

Simultaneously, carpenters were preparing a new roof for the house.  In the on-site workshop, they assembled heart pine lumber atop a full-scale mockup of the masonry walls.  The antique heart pine - sturdy enough for 22-foot long main girders -- formed the “terras roof” over the cube dining room.  The terras roof is relatively flat, and is drained by a system of gutters, ridges and shingles.  In one of the few modern concessions in the restoration, a rubber membrane was installed to protect against leakage.

Set in the middle of the terraced roof is a 16-foot skylight of 32 panes of glass.  Poplar Forest’s skylight was the largest one Jefferson ever designed for a residence, and its light was so exquisite that his granddaughter, Cornelia, used to sketch under it.

Oak timbers were used to build the roof over the rest of the house. Mortise and tenon joints connected posts to joists.  Rafters were set into bird’s mouth joints at the joists.

Today’s restoration team used the same timber framing techniques as Jefferson's crew.  Timber framing is strenuous work, and the modern craftsmen's sounds of exertion as they lifted 400-pound oak beams echoed those of Jefferson's workmen in 1807.

In 1997, the roof was completed and covered with stainless steel shingles dipped in tin. By 1998, the outside of Jefferson's house looked as it did when he lived in it.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation recognized the quality and authenticity of the exterior restoration with its prestigious Honor Award.