Thomas Jefferson’s Off-site Birthplace House Replica, Virginia

A replica of Thomas Jefferson’s birthplace house, originally constructed at his birthplace, the Shadwell Plantation in 1961, was removed, and is now located in a colonial-style office park outside of Charlottesville, where it serves, at the moment, as the office of a collegiate sports media rights management company. In 1945, the Jefferson Birthplace Memorial Park Commission was established to develop Shadwell into a Jefferson historical site. A historical investigator, known for his work locating the site of Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond, was hired, and the original foundation of the Shadwell house was thought to have been discovered. This replica house was built at the location in 1961, filled with antiques, and opened to the public. But two years later, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, owners of Monticello, took possession of the site and shut it down, claiming that the house was not historically accurate. The house was sold and moved here by its new owners.