Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest Review

Great to of the house. Thank you for the 4th celebration.

If you have been to Monticello, the house tour is a little disappointing but interesting to see the comparison and learn the history. Fun kids scavenger hunt to keep them engaged as well.

Loved the tour. As others have said, the staff and guides were very knowledgeable.

We were left a bit disappointed by this experience. The land was beautiful and impressive during the drive in, people were extremely nice, but the paid tour experience was lack luster. The $16/per adult entrance fee was steep for touring the small house. The video shown at the beginning of the tour was very dry and presented as an actor portraying Jefferson in a long winded soliloquy. It'd be better if they broke it up by interviewing historians, since Jefferson was fascinating. I was hoping for the same quality as an NPS historic site and didn't get that.

Great historic location. They work hard to bring relevant events and activities. It is worth a trip.

Wonderful staff, great service, and lovely tour. The grounds are beautiful. Theyve also made a point to show the house in various stages of construction which is really cool to learn about. However, note much of the self guided tour requires walking on uneven terrain and/or outside.

Didn't have as much to offer as Monticello, but the grounds and interior where still neat to check out.

The main building is being restored to Jefferson's original plans. It is a fun and informative tour with beautiful grounds. Bring a picnic and your dog for a nice time. There are kennels on the grounds.

They are still working on the huge task of renovation but wonderful to see. They are very sensitive to safety during the pandemic and our small group tour was most enjoyable.

This is a great part of U.S. history. President Thomas Jefferson built this retreat to get away from things including Monticello his home. It is smaller but has a 2 mile driveway through 600 acres on 4000 acres of land making it his personal retreat. He made wine in both places but his library here was much smaller I only saw a few shelves that could be used for books. It was a great experience.

Better than expected. Awesome way of showcasing the restoration progress and sort of a behind the scenes feel, as compared to Monticello. Learned lots. Not a huge price/time commitment either!

It is a nice place. We saw a Shakespeare play put on in the front lawn and it was very well done and funny. There is a huge lawn but the house itself is small. There is a giftshop and bathrooms at the entrance. If you have a chance to watch a Shakespeare play I would take it. The play company was very good, very funny and knew the play. Bring lawn chairs as seats are not provided.

Loved it. Prefer this over Monticello for the same reasons Jefferson did.

A very beautiful area to visit when in North Carolina.

What a gorgeous place to visit! The staff is extremely knowledgeable and they even have a scavenger hunt for the kids who get a prize if they complete it. I would definitely recommend for those who love history, and we will come back when it gets warmer do we can tour the grounds more.

Nice tour. Good for kids since tour is about 30 minutes and kids have plenty of space to run around outside

Great Place to learn about one of our founding fathers and the lives of everyone living on the plantation. The archaeologists work hard to make sure evryones story gets told here.

Was in the area and stopped by. I refused to pay the $16 per person fee to see Jefferson's 2nd home. A rip-off if ever was one. Jefferson would roll over in his grave if he knew. Screw em.

They have been restoring Jefferson's original vacation home using original materials and hand tools. Pretty amazing!

Wasn t able to take a tour but waking the grounds was cool enough! Especially great for restoration and architectural minded people.

So many interesting facts to learn about Thomas Jefferson, about architecture, about how restoration is tackled in historic buildings. A historic green in the middle of a bustling modern area. The driveway up to the house is breathtaking.

We loved the tour. The guide was very knowledgeable and informative. We took a lot of photos of this wonderful place. I will try to post some soon.

This is a very interesting place to visit. The history of the house and area are very well told. If you enjoy history, and even if you don't you will love this place.

Interesting, thoroughly enjoyable presentation!
Recommend going on the Christmas Candlelight Tour- history, period music and cooking demonstration.

Wonderful historical place to visit. The home is architecturally interesting.

Never knew this place existed. Great compliment to Jefferson's Montecello home.

The house is under construction and there is not a lot of original pieces due to the house catching fire. The staff is knowledgeable. The trees are beautiful. I would really recommend going when they are finished remodeling.

A must for any history buff. They are doing good work here.

Enjoyed seeing the house, especially the dining room.

Delightful! We had a wonderful tour guide named Ann. She was very knowledgeable and answered our questions. We also met Gena and Kyle who were helpful. Everyone was welcoming and because we were on the first tour of the day, we got to meet several of the workers and grounds keepers. Thomas Jefferson would be pleased with the effort these fine folks put into Poplar Forest. :-)

Nice lil day trip. Plus it is a pice of history. It will be great to see it all finished. Every one that worked there I spoke to was very knowledgeable and polite

Cool to see what they have done and learn all about poplar forest

I learned a lot of things about Jefferson and life on the plantation that I didn't know before. The guides are great and very knowledgeable and willing to answer any questions. It was a great learning experience. I enjoyed it very much.

They r doing renovations when they finish it will be very nice

Took many tours here since we moved to the area. Always a great experience. Really enjoyed the special Christmas tour in 2017. If you are looking to learn a little about Thomas Jefferson and you have never been here, I can only recommend going!

An honest look at an important figure. They dont shy away from slavery, while also giving an account of what life was like back then.

It was our second visit and we took some relatives...it was raining and still took tour. Site did offer umbrellas to borrow...excellent guide who shared special caveats about the building of the house as well as stories about President Jefferson during his time here. Very interesting historical site and active archeological site. after tour we were left at the lower level of house to browse on our own additional historical displays. After purchasing our ticket we were assigned a tour time. Could visit archeological building or workshop area while we waited. Staff friendly and willing to share their experise. Nice gift shop to browse while waiting for tour to begin. Each time we go we learn more about it. Location is about 45 min from Lynchburg.

The guides give a good history of Thomas Jefferson 's summer home
They did a good job of restoring the home. The home is only original with the outside bricks as the house had a fire. Lots of history for a small price. 16.00 adults and 14.00 military and seniors.

The house design is amazing for that time period. I am thrilled that they are taking the time and effort to excavate, find artifacts and determine the restoration of the house as closely as possible to how Jefferson had it built. The craftsmanship is incredible!

The place itself, even under construction is beautiful. Learning the history of the place and Jefferson's life there is grand. Everyone should go and take the tour.

Fascinating aspect of the life of Jefferson, well informed guide, able to walk around the grounds.

Love the tour and really neat place to visit and learn about Thomas Jefferson

Wonderful historic home. Great place to learn history and architecture. Always a great place to visit

The wine festival here every year is solid. Lots of vendors and selections.

It's a work in progress, one I hope gets finished. Such a unique style of architecture and one I wish would be used now. Tour was very informative and the free time to browse very nice.

Another look at the genius of Thomas Jefferson! It's a wonderful lesson on historical preservation and archeology. A wonderful work in progress. A must see for a Jefferson devotee. This was my second of many visits I hope. Great guide!

A must see. The tour at Thomas Jefferson s house in Poplar Forest was great! We had a wonderful docent, Bill. The house was a place for Jefferson to go to get away from the public that continually visited Monticello. After Jefferson owned the home, various people owned it. The group is currently refurbishing the home to look the way it did when Jefferson lived there. The house continues to be a work in process; the docent had not been in the house for a few days and was surprised to see the progress the organization had made in the past few days. The property is beautiful and I would love to revisit it after all the renovations.

We took the guided tour. Well worth the money. They did a great job explaining all about Thomas Jefferson and his house and grounds. The gift shop had quite the selection of his items, American history items, and other interesting items. We would definitely go back if in the area again.

Massive area, very serine, love the historical accuracy, and beautiful architecture. Hope they find more artifacts someday.

It was interesting to see the architecture. They are still renovating it

Nice place to learn a little extra history of Thomas Jefferson and his personal life outside of politics. The restorations of the house are very nice. Take the guided tour if you have the time.

Beautiful grounds, well informed staff, interesting experience.

excellent little history stop... especially if you've seen Monticello...

Hidden Gem for History Buffs, Jeffersons Summer Home.

great variety of vineyards and tons of food trucks to choose from. live music was amazing! fantastic day all around ..yoi can tell the folks at poplar forest care because things were very well cared for and thought out.

A bit hard to get to but an unknown home built by Thomas Jefferson from 1809 to 1823. Worth the detour.

Had a very nice tour. Learned a lot from knowledgeable guide and enjoyed speaking with the archeologists.

Well informed tour. Interesting intro movie with Jefferson telling the story. House is being returned to Jefferson design and in progress. You can see the process of restoration. However very little original interior and few Jefferson owned items.

If you like historic homes it's a great property. Bits of unfortunate history, but that's America in a nutshell.

What a fun and interesting couple of hours we had exploring this historic landmark! This impressive structure was designed and built by one of our greatest presidents and most beloved founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. It's a beautiful building filled with typical Jeffersonian quirkiness, i.e. his love of symmetry and octagons(not the UFC one!), his hatred of stairs, the landscape design which had to include the planting of 13 specific trees to represent the 13 original colonies, the skylight, which is still the largest in a private residence, and much more. We were guided through all the details by a woman who was both well informed and engaging. There was also a short lecture and tour given by an archaeologist who is conducting a dig on the grounds which is also included in the tour. One of my favorite pieces on the tour was a letter from his cook that proclaimed her love of our Lord Jesus and the need to follow Him. There is a large gift shop chock full with items that are related to the period. This whole experience was utterly amazing, to walk the very grounds walked by Jefferson himself and see his personality contained in his architecture all come to life right before your eyes, it's a great way to spend a couple hours and remember our heritage as Americans.

Loved the tour, and all the magnificent work that has been done and is ongoing !! Reasonable and easy walking and part of it is self guided. They even have archaeological events sometimes.

I visit this home a few times a year for tours, to see theatre, or to go to a festival. Always pleasant and interesting. The specialized tours are led by such experts that are doing the renovation or archeological studies etc. Go while you can still drive in on the gravel road! It's not original to the property but I enjoy the woods and driving up right in front of the home. It is time for the new entrance but one day we'll say we remember when the entrance was a one lane gravel road.

Nothing is authentic. All of the inside furnishings are reproductions. The only original part are the bricks. Also 16$is kinda overpriced for what you get.

Be prepared, this is an Architectural Tour of an unfinished Jefferson house. This was not made clear and we were disappointed. Our guide was excellent. Our love of history and historic houses prevailed.

Visited this home yesterday...it was very interesting seeing the ongoing renovation. The first part of the tour is guided, and then you can wander around the property following the tour. It s worth the stop if you re in the area...

Popular Forest, just great. Our tour director was second to none. A retired teacher in her element. Go there folks. Thomas Jefferson was an untiring genious. The grounds there are beautiful.
I have been around and this was exceptional. Take pictures and enjoy. (Take family, and friends. Just go.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of this beautiful work of architecture. The docent was extremely knowledgeable and answered all our questions. We look forward to returning as the restoration continues.