Brown College at Monroe Hill

James Monroe's farm stood here before the university did. The original one-story brick house was enlarged in 1814 to a two-story, five-bay dwelling with a Greek Revival facade and paired Tuscan columns. His law office — a story-and-a-half brick building with two small rooms — still stands. The university was built on land purchased from the former president.

In 1848, the site became a residential college for students receiving grants from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and two arcaded ranges went up connecting the main house to the law office. In 1929, twelve dormitory portals were added — the first new dorms since Jefferson founded the place. The college was reestablished in 1986, and in 1994 the Brown family's endowment gave it its current name.

The portals are still formally named after slaveholders and Confederate veterans. Residents now call them by colors: Periwinkle, Redwood, Honey, Teal, Hazel, Magenta, Green, Violet, Dandelion, Lapis, Maroon, Saffron. That campaign began in 2022. Every fall, residents build a charity haunted house in three days and tear it down in one. The application asks you to write your demands after taking yourself hostage. Monroe Hill was listed on the National Register in 2004.