In the service yard, the Monroes had a well, icehouse, smokehouse, overseer's house, and domestic slave quarters. Each slave family probably lived in a single room, used for cooking and common meeting, with an upstairs sleeping loft. Domestic slaves were allowed the most privileges in the slave community, and they had the opportunity to develop close relationships with the Monroes. Once, while in France, Monroe found that one of his slaves had taken ill. This close family relationship and concern was balanced, however, by the demand of constant availability placed on domestic slaves.
Visitors still view the fields surrounding the plantation house upon their approach.
Cattle and horses graze in these pastures, although the field-slaves' houses have long since disappeared. Surrounding the plantation house the service yard bustles once again with activity. The original smokehouse and overseer's house still stand, as well as a reconstruction of the well and of the domestic slaves' quarters. Regular demonstrations of open-hearth cooking, spinning, weaving, candlemaking, and other household crafts that were part of the slaves' daily existence at Highland are still conducted within the quarters. In the main house, the formal rooms on the main floor remind visitors how dependent the household was on its slave labor force.