UVA’s Garden Rooms Have Thomas Jefferson’s Touch

“We have dozens of names — individual workers or contractors,” Klee said. “And in a few cases, individual laborers, so we can build a pretty complete picture of that workforce. This is an incredibly well-documented construction project, where we can speak knowledgeably about individual contributions — when they came in, when they left, the work they did, how much they were paid.”

Pavilion VII was the first to be built, and then the student rooms were expanded. By examining the rooms, Klee said an observer can see in real time where Jefferson and his builders made decisions as construction progressed.

“The first set of rooms south of Pavilion VII was the first to be built,” Klee said. “Jefferson had originally planned 10 rooms on each side of the pavilion, which would take up 100 feet, which is 10 feet per room. With the brick partition, you get 9 feet per room, plus another 7 feet for the fireplace and closets. 7 feet is tiny, so they adjusted and built only nine rooms.”

These rooms were considered small, and for years were even called “the bachelors’ row” because they were used as single rooms, not doubles. When the carpenters built the second set of rooms on the north side of Pavilion VII, they again adjusted and enlarged them.

“You don’t really realize it unless you spend time in one of these rooms and see how small it is,” Klee says. “But you can see it, if you look closely from the lawn, because the size of the rooms affects the placement of the columns. There’s always a column at a partition, so they frame the door openings. If you adjust the width of the size of the rooms, you adjust the spacing of the columns.”

The report, which is important for informing about the preservation of original fabric and/or design during maintenance and renovation works, also showed that workers building the Academic Village stayed in student rooms during the construction of the pavilions.

“There had to be some logic in how the dorm rooms were built in relation to the lodges,” Kutney said. “You couldn’t just build all the lodges and then come back and build the dorm rooms. You had to do them sequentially.”