RECREATING MONTICELLO: INSIDE AND OUT -- AND BUILDING PARIS, IN-BETWEEN Insights from Production Designer David Crank, Executive Producer Craig Anderson, Costume Designer Michael Boyd, And Key Greensperson Lisa Caperton Creating a mini-series that was not only a period piece, but a drama about a well-known and respected founding father and president -- who lived in a home that is now a national landmark -- necessitated the use of intense research and extreme precision and care to make it as visually accurate and believable as possible. Production designer David Crank, executive producer Craig Anderson, costume designer Michael Boyd and key greensperson Lisa Caperton explain what went on behind-the-scenes as they recreated Jefferson's era and dwellings in SALLY HEMINGS: AN AMERICAN SCANDAL, the epic four-hour mini-series about the extraordinary, controversial 38-year relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress, Sally Hemings, to be broadcast Sunday, Feb. 13 and Wednesday, Feb. 16 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT each night) on the CBS Television Network. Starting from Scratch: Recreating a National Landmark -- One need not go farther than one's spare change to see a rendering of Jefferson's well-known Monticello -- and many Americans have seen numerous pictures of it or have visited the site on vacation. "It's a bit more difficult when you're working with a known item," says Crank, who worked to recreate the look as close as possible -- down to the parlor's parquet floors. Executive producer Craig Anderson, who has done 10 period pieces (including "The Staircase," "True Women," "Return of the Native" and "O Pioneers") where production design was crucial, says: "This is by far the most elaborate set I have ever commissioned for a movie." In fact, the cost of recreating Monticello exceeded $1 million. "Monticello was Jefferson's most treasured possession. He designed and built it for decades In this story, Monticello is actually more than a set -- it's another character." In fact, Jefferson referred to Monticello as his "essay in architecture." He was closely involved with all of the details regarding its design and construction. To help prepare for the undertaking, Virginia native Crank talked to staff members of Monticello and revisited the home. Crank was even granted access to the dome and upper rooms, which are not part of the standard tours. While he also used several other means of research, Crank found the books Monticello in Measured Drawing: Drawings by the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service; Jefferson's Monticello and The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello to be especially helpful. It was from the first book that he got the blueprints for the house, from the second that he got a history of the building of Monticello -- with closeup pictures of parts of the various rooms, and from the third that he was able to determine what props and furniture he would need to build or acquire in order to decorate it accurately. "We only had eight weeks to build Monticello," remarked Crank, "but Jefferson had 40 years or so. Basically, from what I've read, it was a construction site for 40 years. It must have been a mess. He kept ripping things down and adding others. It seems to have been a hobby of his." Added Crank, "Jefferson was an amateur architect, but you can tell from his drawings how his skills progressed. His ideas were taken from Greek and Roman architecture." "There was a man in Washington, D.C., who over four years, made all the composition ornament used in the friezes and on the mantels. Many of the door and window tops also had ornament. Unfortunately, we didn't have that man for four years -- we didn't even have him for a week!" Rooms with Views -- Unlike many productions where facades of buildings are created for exterior shots and the interior scenes are done in studios, the Monticello structure was built to include rooms such as Jefferson's parlor, library, bedroom/study, and dining room. Notes Crank, "The whole (original) house was designed in a way that showcased the outside views, and building one structure for the interior and exterior shots was extremely important to (Director) Charlie (Haid) I think it was a very good concern, because we didn't have to use backdrops outside of the windows -- and the scenes shot inside were able to play off of parties and events that were being staged outside." As a result, of the interior rooms/sets, Crank had to be more concerned than usual about making the roof of Monticello watertight. The roof and entire structure ended up faring surprisingly well when Hurricane Floyd struck Richmond -- and halted production -- Sept. 15 though 17. The Location -- "We would have liked to have shot the project at Monticello," explained Anderson, "but, the Monticello Foundation has rules that forbid filming non-documentaries there. So, we brought our production to Richmond and built our own full-scale version of Monticello... By sheer coincidence, we ended up shooting most of the mini-series on the grounds of the Tuckahoe Plantation, which had been owned by relatives of Jefferson (the Randolphs) -- and was where Jefferson began his schooling as a young boy." Added Production Designer David Crank, "The (Virginia) Film Office brought us to Tuckahoe, and as a piece of property -- with fields, river access and an area that was suitable for (Monticello workshop and slave dwelling area) Mulberry Row -- it had almost everything we needed for the U S. portion of the project.., it allowed us to stay there for five weeks of the nine-week production." The Passage of Time: Modifying the Exterior of Monticello -- Because the mini-series spans close to four decades, Jefferson's changes to Monticello during that time had to be reflected as well. Viewers may be surprised to see the depiction of the earlier version of Monticello -- since it's lacking the renowned dome. Explains Crank, "He had a first version of Monticello and a second version (with the dome) --and we had to show both of them... The dome was something he had first seen in France and liked." In fact, Jefferson returned from France in 1789 and construction began on the remodeled Monticello in the mid 1790s. In addition to adding the dome, he expanded the house from eight to 21 rooms. Construction was primarily completed by the time he retired from public life in 1809. Because of the significant changes made to the replica of Monticello to denote the passage of time, the mini-series was primarily shot in sequence. "Due to the filming schedule, we only had three days to make the changeover between the two versions," continues Crank. "To simplify our problem, we built the basic structure of the second Monticello with the dome and then transformed it back into the first version by hiding the dome with the gable roof. Essentially, we had both buildings there at once. During the changeover we removed the gable roof, added the dome molding and round windows as well as added chimneys, Chippendale railings, shutters and a roof balustrade." As Jefferson's financial situation worsened -- so did the look of Monticello's facade. For the later scenes, Crank's team helped give their Monticello a weathered look as well. Changing the Grounds -- Key greensperson Lisa Caperton enjoyed having to deal with the time lapses of this period piece. "For many projects, greens is mostly about masking or doing different seasons -- but we had to show time passing. So, we planted small trees outside of Monticello for the earlier scenes and we added larger trees and oval beds later. I did research based on the shrubs he grew. He was very much into record keeping, so we have really good information about what he planted. I tried to stay as close to that as I could." Crank's Biggest Monticello Challenge: "The real challenge was the time frame of eight weeks and the fact that the weather was over 100 degrees and humid for the first week and a half. Because of the intense heat, the crew members could only work about six hours a day. It was a crucial time because we were also building the facade of his French house and the whole French marketplace." But Crank and his team were up to the challenge. After seeing the results in late August, Haid remarked, "It's been a pleasure to walk onto the set and see the beautiful detail that has been done. Eight weeks ago we stood here in the middle of a bare field trying to figure out the angle for positioning (Monticello) so the sun would hit it right. And to see it now...I'm so grateful to the crew... Paris and D. C. : The Interiors of Jefferson's Parisian Home and Presidential Residence -- When the shooting wasn't taking place at the Tuckahoe Plantation, Centre Hill Mansion in Petersburg, Va. proved to be a versatile location for the mini-series -- serving as settings in Paris and Washington, D.C. Seven rooms at Centre Hill were dressed to look like rooms in the Hotel de Langeac, the Parisian hotel where Jefferson lived as Ambassador to France -- and some of its rooms worked for scenes taking place at the White House. Exterior Scenes Set at Versailles and Other Parisian Locales -- The exterior of the Hotel de Langeac as well as the French marketplace were filmed at Maymont Park in Richmond, Va., which was originally a private estate and is now a public park and nature center. Maymont's grounds also doubled as a section of the gardens at Versailles for a scene in which Jefferson, his daughters and Sally attend a party hosted by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. "At Versailles there is a garden fountain feature that resembles a staircase with water cascading down, and we found a similar setting at Maymont," offered Crank. "We also used the park's Italian Garden, which is a small formal garden alongside a wisteria-covered arbor. It may not be on the scale of Versailles, but the spirit is correct --it's very formal." More Garden Talk: Per Caperton: "The scenes set in Monticello's gardens were shot at Tuckahoe. Mrs. Thompson (the owner) is an heirloom gardener and she put a lot of, things in her garden that Jefferson had in his. It's also very similar to the layout of Jefferson's garden." After talking to some of the gardeners at Monticello to discuss Jefferson's philosophy of planting, Caperton read Jefferson's garden-related writings, got his garden book and obtained information from research done at Williamsburg regarding slave gardens. Then, six weeks prior to the start of shooting, she planted seeds to create two vegetable gardens by the slave quarters. By the time they shot at Mulberry Row, the gardens were lush with lima beans, squash, salad greens, gourds, pumpkins and kale. Costumes: Utilizing Richmond's Historical Resources -- "We were dealing with not only two different time periods but also very obscure time periods. The 1780s and 90s are rarely filmed so there's not much availability of stock -- not even in England," explained costume designer Michael Boyd. As a result, of the five thousand plus costumes for the principals and hundreds of extras, Boyd only rented about 10 percent. The rest were designed and for the most part manufactured by Boyd and his team of 10 seamstresses and tailors, a dyer and a milliner. "We're very fortunate to be in the Richmond area. There were a lot of places that actually had replicated fabrics from Monticello. We're actually showing some patterns that the Randolphs and Jeffersons wore. The quilted fabrics were pricey, but they were worth the money because they transformed our characters. We also found some jewelry at the historical society." Portraying Styles in Paris and the U.S. -- "We also had to deal with the fashions in two different countries," continued Boyd. "To research the styles, I did some heavy reading -- referencing paintings and written accounts. I have a pretty good library myself I also got several books on Jefferson and his experiences in Paris (which included The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson), and I found some recent books that are excellent in describing Jefferson's fashions (Fitting and Proper: 18th Century Clothing from the Collection of Chester County Historical Society, Fashion in Detail from the 17th and 18th Centuries). (Jefferson) was very low key in the states before he went to Paris. He became somewhat of a dandy while he was there. Then when he came back and became president he tried to dress like a man of the people. The Slaves' Attire -- "We've tried to make the attire of the slaves a little more real by showing the layers of slave labor at Monticello. From what I've seen of other productions with portrayals of slaves, they are always dressed the same. There is no differentiation. But there is a hierarchy of slaves. The slaves working in the house would be dressed better than the craftsmen, who would be dressed better than the slaves working the fields." Additionally, explained Boyd, the slaves' attire wouldn't have been dramatically different in design from the clothes of white people. "Everybody wore the same type clothing. It's the degree -- the ornamentation, the materials, the levels of deterioration that made the difference."