Thomas Jefferson evokes for us the idea of the rugged individualist mixed with the rigorous intellect, a Founding Father at the dawn of this American experiment. Turns out, he was also one heck of a shopper, with exquisite taste. He spent years in Paris in a diplomatic post; by the time he returned home, he had 86 boxes of French finery shipped to furnish the manse of his own creation, Monticello, for the rest of his days. Our Jefferson family combines the shapeliness of French tradition and self-restraint of fledgling America.
