Before he went to Europe, Jefferson had built a house called Monticello, but it was boxy and domeless, nothing like the one you can see today. Hardly nickel-worthy. In Europe, he discovered a neoclassical style of architecture that he would bring back and adapt. I follow his guide to see some of his favorite buildings up close in both France and Italy. Nothing prepares us, though, for the hair-raising drive to the top of Jefferson’s favorite source for marble, the famed quarry of Carrara.