Bedroom Portholes

From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Jefferson's Bedchamber. The door leading to the storage space above the bed can be seen on the right.

Above Thomas Jefferson's alcove bed are three oval-shaped, porthole-like openings. To the right of the bed is a doorway to a small room, containing a ladder that leads to a closet hidden within the walls above the bed. This space was used to store out-of-season clothing and spare bed linen; the "portholes" helped to ventilate the space.^[1]

Footnotes

1. ↑ William Howard Adams, "Jefferson's Monticello" (New York: Abbeville Press , c.1983), 131.