A day at Poplar Forest

Today I took a trip to "Poplar Forest" which was Thomas Jefferson's private retreat after retiring from public office. Jefferson still had Monticello, but this smaller residence was his get-a-way, kind of like a summer home. He inherited the 4,819 acre plantation from his father-in-law in 1773. At the time, the plantation did not have a residence on it. In 1806, while President of the US, Jefferson left Washington to go supervise the laying of his octagonal foundation. Can you imagine a president leaving for an extended period of time where it would take days to reach him, just so he could work on his house?
They would not let me take pictures inside the house, but the outside shots are below. Upon entering the house, there is a short hallway that leads to the central dining room. The dining room has a large rectangular sky light over the table. On either side of the hallway are two small rooms. No one is quite sure what these rooms were used for, but they think one of them may have been used by Jefferson's valet.
If you proceed through the dining room to the back of the house, you will enter a rather large parlor with two fireplaces at both ends. The outside wall is constructed of glass windows and doors that lead out to a treacherous back porch. This porch does not have any railing or steps, so you first step off the porch would be a shocker!
On either side of the dining room there are 2 large bedrooms. All the rooms entering into the dining room had glass doors to let in maximum light. That's it for the main floor. The basement had a wine cellar and the kitchen and laundry areas were off to the side of the house.
The kitchen was quite modern for that time. Not only did it have a large fireplace, it also had an oven, a large sunken pot to keep boiling water in, and 3 grill type areas for slower cooking.
Lest we not forget one of the most important rooms in any house, and in this case outside the house, and Jefferson had two. They were called the "necessaries or privies". They were made of brick so it would have been impossible to relocate them every time the hole was full. Instead of moving them they created a hole at the back, where some poor sole had to shovel out the refuse.
All in all it was a great day, except for the swarms of gnats. Until next time.....