Ash Lawn, James Monroe's home, Charlottesville, VA, circa 1930

About this postcard

The printed caption identifies the house as Ash Lawn, James Monroe's home near Charlottesville, Virginia, and calls the setting the sundial garden. The picture shows a low white clapboard house with a broad green roof and two brick chimneys at the end of a brick walk that curves through a manicured lawn. Beds of pink, yellow, and white flowers line the paths and foundation, and large shade trees frame the house. The caption says the house faces Monticello, three miles away, and that Thomas Jefferson planned it for his friend and neighbor Monroe; it was built in 1798. It also presents Monroe as a Revolutionary hero, signer of the Louisiana Purchase, author of the Monroe Doctrine, and fifth president. The property is now known as James Monroe's Highland.