When Thomas Jefferson served as U.S. Ambassador to France he made some discoveries that would become lifelong passions – like fine wine and dumbwaiters. Today, that term refers to a small elevator used to move food from a kitchen on one floor to a dining room on another, but that was not the case at Jefferson’s hideaway home in Bedford County.
"A dumbwaiter in Jefferson’s time was a free-standing set of shelves positioned next to the dining room table and used to store things needed throughout the meal," says Alyson Ramsey, President and CEO of Poplar Forest. She notes Jefferson came for weeks or months at a time to read and think.
"It was also a significant source of Jefferson’s income as a tobacco and later wheat plantation and home to almost 200 enslaved individuals."
On occasion he entertained guests.
“The most famous person that came by was General Andrew Jackson on his way back from his victory at the Battle of New Orleans,” Ramsey says.
To ensure that their dining room conversations remained private and were not interrupted, Jefferson relied on the dumbwaiters instead of slaves. Guests could simply serve themselves. After Jefferson died, his grandson sold the property -- including two dumbwaiters -- to John Hutter’s family, and Alyson Ramsey recently asked to have one back.
"I spoke with John on a Monday morning," she recalls. "He came down with it on Wednesday, so it was just wonderful and made for such an exciting week for us!"
The house is not tightly climate-controlled, so the dumbwaiter will be kept in storage – brought out only on special occasions. The Fourth of July isn’t one of them, but Ramsey says visitors will be able to feed on fare from food trucks, watch skilled craftsmen at work, enjoy activities for kids and discounted tours of Jefferson’s second home.
