“The best dwelling house in the state” is how Thomas Jefferson described his Bedford County hermitage of Poplar Forest. Begun in 1806 on land inherited from his wife, and completed by his death in 1826, this unique work demonstrates Jefferson’s fascination with octagons. Its form is octagonal, three major rooms are elongated octagons, and the privies, tucked behind earthen mounds, are miniature domed octagons. The house at Poplar Forest was set in an elaborate villa landscape at the heart of a 4800-acre plantation. Jefferson escaped the bustle of Monticello by visiting Poplar Forest several times a year. Here he found the peace to think, to study, and to read. Following a fire in 1845, the house was rebuilt within its walls. It remained a private residence until the 1980s. In 1984 it was purchased by the Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, which oversaw a meticulous restoration to Jefferson’s original design.

Poplar Forest was originally listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971. The current acreage includes a portion of the original 18th century property historically associated with the eponymous Palladian villa and ornamental landscape designed by Thomas Jefferson. Since 1983, the Corporation for Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest has managed a program of restoration and research to develop Poplar Forest as a historic site and house museum. Archaeological investigations have examined extant buildings and structures and located numerous additional sites, including many associated with the enslaved African American community who lived and labored on the plantation prior to Emancipation. An updated nomination in 2025 expanded the property’s period of significance to encompass three main ownership periods – Wayles (1764-1773), Jefferson/Eppes (1773-1828), and Cobb-Hutter (1828-1946) – to better represent the existing resources on the Poplar Forest property. The amended documentation also expands on the property’s national significance in the areas of Agriculture, African American Ethnic Heritage, Politics and Government, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Archaeology (Historic – Non-Aboriginal), drawing from intensive study during the architectural restoration process and more than 35 years of archaeological investigations. Finally, this update amends the National Register boundaries to remove acreage that has been heavily redeveloped since the original 1969 listing while also adding land historically associated with the plantation and containing sites that had not previously been identified or recognized as significant.
[VLR Approved: 6/12/2025; NRHP Approval: Pending]