diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index eb08f6851..a3e68f4a9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 Changes to Calva.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+- [Add option to manually specify project root directory](https://github.com/BetterThanTomorrow/calva/issues/579)
 
 ## [2.0.80] - 2020-03-07
 - Fix so that Paredit treats symbols containing the quote character correctly.
diff --git a/docs/readthedocs/source/connect-sequences.md b/docs/readthedocs/source/connect-sequences.md
index 515260bf8..e02af2fe8 100644
--- a/docs/readthedocs/source/connect-sequences.md
+++ b/docs/readthedocs/source/connect-sequences.md
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ A connect sequence configures the following:
 * `projectType`: (required) This is either "Leiningen”, ”Clojure-CLI”, or ”shadow-cljs”.
 * `nReplPortFile`: An array of path segments with the project root-relative path to the nREPL port file for this connect sequence. E.g. For shadow-cljs this would be `[".shadow-cljs", "nrepl.port"]`.
 * `afterCLJReplJackInCode`: Here you can give Calva some Clojure code to evaluate in the CLJ REPL, once it has been created.
+* `projectRootDir`: The root directory to execute the Jack-in command from.  This will override the default behavior for determining the root directory relative to the current open file.  This is useful for working in monorepos.
 * `cljsType`: This can be either "Figwheel Main", "lein-figwheel", "shadow-cljs", "Nashorn", or a dictionary configuring a custom type. If omitted, Calva will skip connecting a ClojureScript repl. A custom type has the following fields:
   * `dependsOn`: (required) Calva will use this to determine which dependencies it will add when starting the project (Jacking in). This can be either "Figwheel Main", "lein-figwheel", "shadow-cljs", "Nashorn", or ”User provided”. If it is "User provided", then you need to provide the dependencies in the project, or launch with an alias (deps.edn), profile (Leiningen), or build (shadow-cljs) that provides the dependencies needed.
   * `isStarted`: Boolean. For CLJS REPLs that Calva does not need to start, set this to true. (If you base your custom cljs repl on a shadow-cljs workflow, for instance.)
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9ec29eb4a..f71c9c149 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -375,6 +375,11 @@
                                     "description": "Here you can give Calva some Clojure code to evaluate in the CLJ REPL, once it has been created.",
                                     "required": false
                                 },
+                                "projectRootDir": {
+                                    "type": "string",
+                                    "descripion": "The root directory to execute the Jack-in command from.  This will override the default behavior for determining the root directory relative to the current open file.  This is useful for working in monorepos.",
+                                    "required": false
+                                },
                                 "menuSelections": {
                                     "type": "object",
                                     "description": "Pre-selected menu options. If a slection is made here. Calva won't prompt for it.",
diff --git a/src/nrepl/connectSequence.ts b/src/nrepl/connectSequence.ts
index 7acec0e09..5bfa81643 100644
--- a/src/nrepl/connectSequence.ts
+++ b/src/nrepl/connectSequence.ts
@@ -38,13 +38,14 @@ interface MenuSelections {
     leinAlias?: string,
     cljAliases?: string[],
     cljsLaunchBuilds?: string[],
-    cljsDefaultBuild?: string
+    cljsDefaultBuild?: string,
 }
 
 interface ReplConnectSequence {
     name: string,
     projectType: ProjectTypes,
     afterCLJReplJackInCode?: string,
+    projectRootDir?: string,
     cljsType: CljsTypes | CljsTypeConfig,
     menuSelections?: MenuSelections,
     nReplPortFile?: string[]
@@ -242,4 +243,4 @@ export {
     CljsTypes,
     ReplConnectSequence,
     CljsTypeConfig
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/nrepl/jack-in.ts b/src/nrepl/jack-in.ts
index 089f1f9a8..1ca445bfe 100644
--- a/src/nrepl/jack-in.ts
+++ b/src/nrepl/jack-in.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ vscode.tasks.onDidEndTask(((e) => {
     if(e.execution.task.name == TASK_NAME) {
        JackinExecution = undefined;
        connector.default.disconnect();
-       // make sure everything is set back 
+       // make sure everything is set back
        // even if the task failed to connect
        // to the repl server.
        utilities.setLaunchingState(null);
@@ -36,11 +36,17 @@ vscode.tasks.onDidEndTask(((e) => {
 
 function cancelJackInTask() {
     setTimeout(() => {
-        calvaJackout(); 
+        calvaJackout();
     }, 1000);
 }
 
 async function executeJackInTask(projectType: projectTypes.ProjectType, projectTypeSelection: any, executable: string, args: any, cljTypes: string[], outputChannel: vscode.OutputChannel, connectSequence: ReplConnectSequence) {
+    // If the connection sequence specifies a project root dir, override the existing project dir
+    const projectRootDir = connectSequence?.projectRootDir;
+    if(projectRootDir) {
+        state.setProjectRoot(projectRootDir);
+    }
+
     utilities.setLaunchingState(projectTypeSelection);
     statusbar.update();
     const nReplPortFile = projectTypes.nreplPortFile(connectSequence);
diff --git a/src/state.ts b/src/state.ts
index 949baf3ea..04d3af8bb 100644
--- a/src/state.ts
+++ b/src/state.ts
@@ -156,6 +156,10 @@ export function getProjectRoot(useCache = true): string {
     }
 }
 
+export function setProjectRoot(rootPath: string) {
+    cursor.set(PROJECT_DIR_KEY, rootPath);
+}
+
 export function getProjectWsFolder(): vscode.WorkspaceFolder {
     const doc = util.getDocument({});
     return doc ? vscode.workspace.getWorkspaceFolder(doc.uri) : null;
@@ -223,7 +227,7 @@ export async function initProjectDir(): Promise<void> {
         for (let projectFile in projectFileNames) {
             const p = path.resolve(rootPath, projectFileNames[projectFile]);
             if (fs.existsSync(p)) {
-                cursor.set(PROJECT_DIR_KEY, rootPath);
+                setProjectRoot(rootPath);
                 return;
             }
         }