Brown College at Monroe Hill, Residential college in Virginia, United States.
Brown College at Monroe Hill is a residential college at the University of Virginia, made up of twelve connected structures built in the Greek Revival style. The buildings are joined by underground passages, forming a single complex on a historic property in Charlottesville.
The oldest structure on the property, Monroe Hill House, was built around 1790 and served as the home of James Monroe before he became president. It was later absorbed into the University of Virginia and became the foundation around which the residential college grew.
Residents run their own seminars and teach one another throughout the year, which shapes how the community feels on a daily basis. Walking through the connected buildings, visitors notice how academic and social life are woven closely together.
The underground passages let residents move between buildings without going outside, which is useful when the weather is poor. Visitors should keep in mind that this is an active residential area, so access to some parts of the complex may be limited.
Monroe Hill House is one of the few surviving buildings in Virginia known to have been the home of a future US president before he took office. Students today live in the same structure where Monroe once lived, making it an inhabited piece of early American history.
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