In the seventh episode of Open Door, UVA School of Architecture’s Thomas Jefferson Foundation Chair and Associate Professor of Architectural History, Abbey Stockstill, welcomes viewers into historic Morea House on the University of Virginia’s Grounds. Since July 2026, Stockstill and her family have called Morea home, where she serves as Principal of UVA’s International Residential College (IRC), a vibrant intercultural learning community of more than 300 undergraduates.
As Principal, Stockstill regularly opens Morea to IRC students and the broader university community through programs such as the Fireside Forum, a series of faculty-led conversations organized around a shared theme. This year’s theme, “Revolution,” coincides with America’s semiquincentennial.
The house itself has a rich history. Built in 1835 on a 106-acre farm, Morea was the residence of Dr. John Patten Emmet, a natural history professor and pioneering physician appointed to the University by Thomas Jefferson. Inspired by Jeffersonian architecture, the house features an interior arcade, thick masonry walls, and distinctive Chinese railings that echo design elements found on the Lawn. Beyond the house, Morea’s arboretum includes trees from around the world, reflecting Emmet’s deep interest in botany.
Stockstill’s own scholarship explores the intersections of architecture, landscape, urbanism, and identity in the medieval Mediterranean, particularly in the Islamic West, or Maghrib, encompassing present-day Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Through her role at the IRC and her work as a historian, she brings people together around the ways places, cultures, and communities shape one another across time.
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