"I have fixed myself comfortably, keep some books here, brings others occasionally, am in the solitude of a hermit. . ."  -- Thomas Jefferson, writing about Poplar Forest, his second home.

So where does a famous man living in a famous house go to get away from it all?

In Thomas Jefferson's case, the answer was Poplar Forest, his 4,800-acre plantation in Bedford County.

The house at Poplar Forest, like the one at Monticello, was designed by Jefferson himself. But it was never as famous. And that suited Jefferson just fine.

At Monticello, "He was overwhelmed with visitors," said Susan Sihlanick, a Poplar Forest guide. "Monticello was one of the curiosities of the neighborhood. Sometimes as many as 50 uninvited guests would show up at his door."

Jefferson, who started building Poplar Forest in 1806, when he was still president, went there three or four times a year, "just to get away," said Sihlanick. The journey from Monticello took three days. Jefferson often brought his granddaughters, Ellen and Cornelia. Some of the enormous tulip poplars on the grounds date to Jefferson's day.

Poplar Forest has been described by historian David McCullough as "an American masterpiece." Author Garry Wills called it "a gem in the wilds."

"Alone of the buildings associated with Jefferson it will someday take its place with Monticello and the University of Virginia as a masterpiece of Jefferson's art and a revelation of his mind," Wills wrote in 1993.

An experiment in design

Like Monticello, Poplar Forest contains plenty of evidence of Jefferson's active brain -- including some ideas that didn't work.

His skylight leaked; his elaborate drainage system, which channeled rainwater from his walkway through wooden baffles to dozens of downspouts, quickly rotted through. The dining room chimney flue was difficult to clean, and may have contributed to at least one fire.

"Not everything he designed worked out," Sihlanick said.

Other things make so much sense you wonder why they aren't more in use today.

The three-part windows in the library extend all the way to the floor, and can be raised high enough to create temporary doorways. Jefferson had several thousand books, and brought hundreds of them to Poplar Forest. "He said he couldn't live without his books," Sihlanick said.

And then there is the building's eight-sided shape. Jefferson loved octagons, for "their symmetry and the light and airy environment they created," according to the Poplar Forest visitors guide. "There were no dark corners," Sihlanick explained.

He incorporated octagons into many of his architectural designs -- including Monticello -- but Poplar Forest was the only truly octagonal building he ever built, and the first octagonal house in America.

A second life

After Jefferson's death, part of the plantation was sold to settle his debts. The house, too, soon passed into other hands, where it remained until the 1980s.

The nonprofit Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest took the title to the dilapidated property in 1984, and has been slowly restoring it to its original condition.

In addition, archaeology work on the Poplar Forest grounds is ongoing. "We have a quarter of a million artifacts now," said laboratory supervisor Lori Lee.

Archaeological research played an important role in the re-creation of Poplar Forest's office wing and kitchen yard, which was opened to visitors in April.

Poplar Forest is still a work in progress. The rooms are mostly bare of furniture. As a result, it lacks the ambiance of Monticello -- but it's also much easier to peek and poke around inside and see just how Jefferson did things.

The interior brick walls, for example, are a primer in 18th-century building techniques. In some places, instead of mortar between the bricks, chunks of wood were inserted. This gave carpenters something to nail the wood trim to.

One reason Poplar Forest made a good retreat for Jefferson is it was off the beaten path.

It still is. Poplar Forest is located in a rural, mountainous county with no interstate highway nearby, unlike Monticello, which is just minutes away from Interstate 64.

Poplar Forest has even in some ways escaped the digital age, when Mapquest can guide anyone to our doors. When a reporter tried to Mapquest his route from Roanoke, however, he drew a blank on "Poplar Forest."

Actually, typing "Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest" as your destination in Mapquest will get you directions to the back entrance, Poplar Forest Marketing and Public Relations Director Anna Bentson said.

But she also conceded it's still hard to find. "Needless to say, getting people here is half the battle."

"I think Thomas Jefferson would be pleased," said Sihlanick, sounding almost proud.