Architecture worth great attention. As we double our numbers every 20 years we must double our houses. Besides we build of such perishable materials that one half of our houses must be rebuilt in every space of 20 years. So that in that term, houses are to be built for three fourths of our inhabitants. It is then among the most important arts: and it is desireable to introduce taste into an art which shews so much.


Hints to Americans travelling in Europe, letter to John Rutledge, Jr. (June 19, 1788); in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd (1956), vol. 13, p. 269. - Earlier drafts

Thomas Jefferson Quotes

Architecture worth great attention. As we double our numbers every 20 years we must double our houses. Besides we build of such perishable materials...

Architecture worth great attention. As we double our numbers every 20 years we must double our houses. Besides we build of such perishable materials...

Architecture worth great attention. As we double our numbers every 20 years we must double our houses. Besides we build of such perishable materials...

Architecture worth great attention. As we double our numbers every 20 years we must double our houses. Besides we build of such perishable materials...