Thomas Jefferson disliked the deference in the early American buildings to the architecture of Georgian England, which served as a constant reminder of monarchial tyranny and the bloody years of the War of Independence. He aspired to a more timeless architecture, based at 5 first on his favored Renaissance styles, which in turn were based on the architecture of ancient Rome.

What made Jefferson's buildings especially American was the way they were integrated into the landscape. His beloved home, Monticello, 10 was pushed into a hilltop so that its spreading service wings would not obstruct the sweeping panorama of the Blue Ridge Mountains visible from the house. The building became a part of the hill and made possible views of tilled lowlands to the east and a rugged wilderness that stretched to the west.
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All of Jefferson's buildings were created with a clear view to utility and with a special relationship to the landscape. He favored grassy terraces with views if possible to the mountains. But his buildings also showed his idealism, to serve as examples of good architecture, 20 which usually meant the architecture of classical antiquity, which was for him the architecture of a republic.