RESTORATION COMPLETED ON TWO JEFFERSON BUILDINGS
Poplar Forest Newsletter, Fall 2001

The two intact Jefferson-designed dependencies at Poplar Forest now look as they did in Jefferson’s time. Craftsmen have completely restored the two octagonal necessaries – or privies – both inside and out.

The west privy was finished this spring and re-opened so visitors could peer through the door to see the interior. Restoration of the second of the two brick privies was completed in September, 193 years since Jefferson’s masons finished constructing the necessaries in September 1808.

These octagonal buildings are key parts of Jefferson’s five-part design – centered on his octagonal house, which he flanked on both east and west sides with a mound and a privy all aligned on the same axis. Their apparent dual purpose – as necessaries and as sophisticated garden temples in his ornamental landscape – is further evidence of Jefferson’s creativity in blending architecture and landscape in the environment he created at Poplar Forest.

Much original structure and detailing survived in one or the other of the privies, enabling accurate reproduction of missing parts. The west privy, for example, has its original wooden seat and original door hinges, while the east privy still has its original door, hinges, window frame, and latch. The final step this September was completion of the meticulous shaping and fitting of chestnut shingles and lead cap on the east privy’s dome roof.

Commenting on their significance, Travis McDonald, director of restoration, says, “Jefferson’s necessaries at Poplar Forest are exquisite American versions of the neo-classical garden temples found in Jefferson’s time throughout Europe, especially England and France. The completion of these two of the three intact Jefferson-designed buildings is a milestone in our restoration work.”