Jefferson was both the builder and the architect of Monticello, and it became for him nearly a lifetime avocation. His home was the first of a series of architectural achievements, many of them late in life, that support a leading architectural historian’s assessment of Jefferson as America’s “first great native-born architect.” The first American to make working drawings as well as architectural designs, Jefferson produced more than five hundred such drawings-the earliest ones in planning the building of Monticello. Twenty-one architectural drawings date between 1767. when he Jefferson was both the builder and the architect of Monticello, and it became for Him nearly a lifetime avocation. His home was the first of a series of architectural achievements, many of them late in life, that support a leading architectural historian’s assessment of Jefferson as America’s “first great native-born architect.” The first American to make working drawings as well as architectural designs, Jefferson produced more than five hundred such drawings-the earliest ones in planning the building of Monticello. Twenty-one civil drawings date Between 1767. when he