James Madison's Montpelier, located in

Orange County, Virginia Orange County is a county located in the Central Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 36,254. Its county seat is Orange. Orange County includes Montpelier, the estate of James Madison, the ...

, was the

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

of the Madison family, including

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

and fourth

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

and his wife, Dolley. The property is open seven days a week with the mission of engaging the public with the enduring legacy of Madison's most powerful idea: government by the people. Montpelier was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1966. It was included in the Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District in 1991. In 1983, the last private owner of Montpelier,

Marion duPont Scott Marion duPont Scott (May 3, 1894 – September 4, 1983) was a thoroughbred horsebreeder who operated a racing stable for both flat and steeplechase racing. She was the last private owner of Montpelier, the mansion and land estate of former Unite ...

, bequeathed the estate to the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

. The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has owned and operated the estate since 1984. In 2000, The Montpelier Foundation formed with the goal of transforming James Madison's historic estate into a dynamic cultural institution. From 2003 to 2008 the NTHP carried out a major restoration, in part to return the mansion to its original size of 22 rooms as it was during the years when it was occupied by James and

Dolley Madison Dolley Todd Madison (née Payne; May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of bo ...

. Extensive interior and exterior work was done during the restoration. Archeological investigations in the 21st century revealed new information about African-American life at the plantation, and a gift from philanthropist

David Rubenstein David Mark Rubenstein (born August 11, 1949) is an American billionaire businessman. A former government official and lawyer, he is a co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group,Ambrose Madison, and his brother-in-law, Thomas Chew, received a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

for of land in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

of Virginia. Ambrose, his wife Frances Madison, and their three children moved to the

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

in 1732, naming it Mount Pleasant. (Archaeologists have located this first site near the Madison Family Cemetery.) Ambrose died six months later; according to court records, he was poisoned by three enslaved Africans. At the time, Ambrose Madison held 29 slaves and close to . After his death, Frances managed the estate with the help of their son, Colonel James Madison Sr. Madison Sr. expanded the plantation to include building services and blacksmithing in the 1740s, and bought additional slaves to cultivate tobacco and other crops. He married Nelly Conway Madison (1731–1829) and had 12 children. James Madison Sr.'s first-born son, also named James, was born on March 16, 1751, at Belle Grove, his mother's family estate in Port Conway, where she had returned for his birth. James Madison spent his early years at Mount Pleasant. In the early 1760s, Madison Sr. built a new house half a mile away, which structure forms the heart of the main house at Montpelier today. Built around 1764, it has two stories of brick laid in a

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by siz ...

pattern, and a low, hipped roof with chimney stacks at both ends. His son James Madison later stated that he remembered helping move furniture to the new home. The building of Montpelier represents Phase 1 (1764–1797) of the construction. Upon completion, the Madisons owned one of the largest brick dwellings in Orange County. Phase 2 (1797–1800) of construction began in 1797, after son James returned to Montpelier with his new wife

. He was then 39 and she was a young widow with a child. At this time Madison added a thirty-foot extension and a Tuscan

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

to the house. Madison's widowed mother, Nelly, still resided in the house following the death of her husband, James Sr., in 1801. In the last period of construction, Phase 3 (1809–1812), Madison had a large drawing room added, as well as one-story wings at each end of the house and he directed construction of single-story flat-roofed extensions at either end of the house; these provided space for the separate household of the newlyweds James and Dolley Madison. After his second term as president, in 1817 Madison retired there full-time with his wife Dolley. James Madison died in 1836 and is buried in the family cemetery at Montpelier. His widow Dolley Madison moved back to Washington, D.C., in 1837 after his death. In 1844 she sold the plantation to Henry W. Moncure. After Dolley Madison died in 1849, she was buried in Washington, D.C., and later re-interred at Montpelier near her husband James. After Dolley Madison sold the estate to Henry W. Moncure in 1844, the property was held by six successive owners before the du Ponts bought Montpelier in 1901. The various owners and the dates associated with the site include: Benjamin Thornton (1848–1854), William H. Macfarland (1854–1855), Alfred V. Scott (1855–1857), Thomas J. Carson and Frank Carson (1857–1881), Louis F. Detrick and William L. Bradley (1881–1900) and Charles King Lennig (1900).

The name Montpelier

The origins of the name Montpelier are uncertain, but the first recorded use of the name comes from a 1781 James Madison letter. Madison personally liked the French spelling of the name ''Montpellier''. The city of

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

, France, was a famous resort. Clues from letters and visitor descriptions suggest these origins of the plantation's name.

Slavery at Montpelier

The work of Montpelier was done primarily by its about 100 enslaved African people during James Madison's tenure as owner. Slaves served in a variety of roles: field workers, domestic servants in charge of cleaning, cooking, and care of clothing; and as artisans for the mill, forge, wheelwright, and other carpentry and woodworking. During the time that the Madisons owned the estate, "five, six, and possibly seven generations of African Americans were born into slavery at Montpelier." The most well-known slave from Montpelier was Paul Jennings (1799-1874), Madison's body servant from 1817 to 1835. When Jennings went to the White House at age 10, he served at table and did other work. Senator

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

purchased Jennings from the widowed Dolley Madison in 1845, and gave him his freedom. Jennings continued to live in Washington, DC, where he worked as a laborer at the federal Pension Bureau and became a homeowner. In 1848 Jennings helped plan the largest slave escape in United States history, as 77 slaves from the Washington, DC area took to ''The Pearl,'' a schooner, intending to sail up the Chesapeake Bay to a free state. They were captured and most were sold to the Deep South. Jennings was noted for his reminiscences of Madison, ''A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison'' (1865), which is considered the first White House memoir. Archaeological research and documentary analysis has revealed much about the life of Montpelier-born slave, Catherine Taylor (ca. 1820 – after 1889). Catherine married Ralph Taylor, a house slave, and had four children with him. When Dolley Madison moved to Washington, D.C. in the years after James Madison's death, Ralph was chosen to accompany her to serve her in the capital. Dolley kept Catherine at Montpelier for several months after she brought Ralph to D.C., and then brought Catherine to D.C. later Dolley Madison transferred (or deeded), most of the enslaved people to her son, John Payne Todd. He stipulated in his will that upon his death, the slaves would be manumitted. However, due to legal and financial complications after Todd's death, the slaves were not manumitted. The Taylors petitioned James C. Maguire, the administrator of the estate, for their freedom. After being officially freed in 1853, they chose to live in Washington, which had a large free black community and opportunities for varied work. The Montpelier staff continues to research the enslaved community by a variety of methods: studying historical documents such as court records and autobiographies, conducting archaeological excavations, contacting current descendants, and document the contributions and sacrifices of the enslaved community.

The duPont family

After some renovations in the later 19th century (c. 1855 and c. 1880), the house was acquired in 1901 by

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Annie Rogers duPont, of the duPont family. A horse enthusiast, William duPont built barns, stables, and other buildings for

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

use. The duPonts were among several wealthy families in the Upper South who were influential in the development of Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. The duPont family also added a Hodgson House to the property. These were known as "America's First Organized Prefabricated House Manufacturer before Aladdin, Sears, and Montgomery Ward," emphasizing that the homes could technically be built in a day. Still located on Montpelier's property, it is now known as the "Bassett House." William and Annie had a daughter, Marion duPont, and a son William duPont Jr. Upon William duPont Sr.'s death in 1928, William duPont Jr. inherited the family's Bellevue estate in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

, whereupon he had the estate's mansion converted into a replica of Montpelier (now preserved as a state park), and Marion inherited the Montpelier estate. Marion preserved much of the core of the Madison home, gardens, and grounds as a legacy for all Americans. After her father's death, Marion made only one change to the house; she remodeled her parents' music room in the latest Art Deco style, using modern and innovative materials such as laminated plywood, chrome, glass block, and plate glass mirrors. A weather vane was installed on the ceiling, which allowed wind direction to direct the hounds for fox hunting. An exact replica of the Art Deco room can be seen in the DuPont Gallery, in the Visitors' Center at Montpelier. Prior to her parents moving into the property, they enlarged the house considerably, adding wings that more than doubled the number of rooms to 55. Her parents also had the brick covered with a stucco exterior for a lighter look. In 1934 Marion and her brother William founded the Montpelier Hunt Races, to be held on the grounds. Natural hedges were used as jumps for the steeplechase. The races continue to be held annually, the first Saturday each November. Marion duPont Scott died in 1983 and bequeathed the property to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, with $10 million as an endowment to buy and maintain it. Her father's will had stated that if she died childless, the property would go to her brother William duPont Jr. and his children. As he had died in 1965, his five children legally inherited the property. In 1984 the heirs of Marion duPont Scott, in accordance with her wishes, transferred ownership of Montpelier to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

National Trust Property

Since the National Trust for Historic Preservation took ownership in 1984, the organization has worked to restore Montpelier to the Madison era. It has paid tribute to Marion duPont Scott's influence by retaining one of her favorite rooms in the newly renovated and expanded Visitor's Center, along with the annual Montpelier Hunt Races. In 2000, the National Trust established Montpelier as a co-stewardship property, administered by The Montpelier Foundation. The Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution provided an Education Center for students and teachers. It sponsors the "We the People" program to promote the understanding of civics for upper elementary and secondary students, along with national and state programs for teachers, such as the National Advanced Content Seminars, which focuses on historical content and teaching methods. In conjunction with the

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

Field School, Montpelier has been the site of annual, seasonal

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

excavations from April to November. Under a four-year collaborative research grant from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, four quarters have been excavated related to the lives of enslaved African Americans: including the Stable Quarter (2009), South and Kitchen Yards (2011), Tobacco Barn Quarter (2012), and Field Quarter (2013)."With Thanks from Montpelier"
Caroline Godfrey's blog The excavations have revealed early structures in those areas, including possible slave quarters, as well as a variety of artifacts dating to the Madison residency and their slaves. The artifacts are helping researchers form a much broader and deeper picture of the lives of the slaves at Montpelier. "The four residential locations provide a unique opportunity to compare and contrast the conditions of chattel slavery of the period. Differences and similarities between these locations – particularly architectural styles and household goods such as ceramics, glassware, and clothing items – reflect the relationship of individual households to each other, the community to which they belong, their relationship to the overarching plantation complex, and regional patterns of both market access and cultural traditions. From 2003 to 2008 the National Trust carried out a $25 million restoration to return the mansion to its 1820 state; it is again less than half the size of the expanded residence created by the DuPont family. The National Trust is conducting a search for furnishings either original to the property or of its era.

Restoration

A $25 million restoration project launched in October 2003 was completed on Constitution Day, September 17, 2008. A Restoration Celebration was held with major funding by

National Trust Community Investment Corporation The National Trust Community Investment Corporation (NTCIC) is a private, for-profit subsidiary of the American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United ...

. The restoration returned Montpelier to its 1820 appearance: it demolished additions made to the house by the duPont family, removed the stucco exterior to reveal the original brick, restored the original brick exterior, and reconstructed the house's interior as it appeared during Madison's tenure as owner. Authentic materials were used in the restoration, including horsehair plaster, and paint containing linseed oil and chalk. The Collections staff and archaeologists are working to understand the decorations of each room and recreate room settings as closely as possible to what the Madisons knew. A wing in the visitors' center has been dedicated to the duPont family. It includes a restored

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

Red Room from the

era, moved from the mansion and permanently installed here.

''The Mere Distinction of Colour''

In 2017, Montpelier added to its existing interpretations of slavery – including the Gilmore Cabin and the Jim Crow–era Train Station, both of which are permanent installations – with the opening of the exhibition, ''The Mere Distinction of Colour''. This exhibition, funded by a donation from philanthropist David Rubenstein, explores the history and legacies of American slavery both at Montpelier and nationwide. ''The Mere Distinction of Colour'' spans the cellars of the Madison house, the south cellar exploring the Montpelier slavery story, and the north cellar analyzing the economics and legacies of slavery. The exhibition is the culmination of decades of archaeological and documentary research conducted by Montpelier staff and advisors. One of the unique features of this exhibition is that it was guided by living descendants of the slaves who once inhabited Montpelier and the surrounding area. Montpelier has an active descendant community, some of whom have genealogical proof of their ancestry, and others who are connected through oral histories that have been passed down through generations. The South Cellar details the Montpelier story of slavery, complete with the voices of descendants and the names of everyone known to be enslaved on the property throughout the Madison ownership. The North Cellar analyses the national slave narrative, talking about how slavery become institutionalized in American society and how profitable the slave trade was for all of the colonies, not exclusively the south. The unguided ''Mere Distinction of Colour'' installation is free with the purchase of any tour ticket, and is open to the public Thursday to Monday.

Today

Montpelier is open to visitors Thursday to Monday except Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the following hours: January – March: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m, April – October: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., November – December: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Montpelier includes the a Hands-on-Restoration-Tent open from April–October; Hands-on-Archaeology Lab and Kid-Sized Archaeology open daily; Hands-on-Cooking offered April–October; Civil War and Gilmore Farm Trail open daily; and, the Archaeology Dig open April–October. Visitors can also walk around the James Madison Landmark Forest, a 200-acre (0.81 km2) stand of old growth forest.

Annual events

Montpelier is the site of many annual events. Three particularly draw large crowds: the Montpelier Hunt Races, Wine Festival, and the Fiber Festival. The annual Montpelier Hunt Races, an autumn

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

event, were started by Marion duPont Scott and her brother William duPont Jr. in 1934. The races are held the first Saturday in November. Montpelier has one of the few steeplechase tracks in the country that use traditional hedgerows for jumps. Montpelier hosts seven races at this event. Guests may watch the races directly at the rail for a close experience. Th
Montpelier Wine Festival
showcases distinctive arts and crafts, specialty food vendors, local agricultural products, and Virginia wine from approximately 25 different wineries in the state. Th
Fall Fiber Festival
is held each October and is a popular regional event. The event showcases every aspect of textile manufacturing, from the production of wool to the finished product. Events include sheep shearing, craft demos, and a host of other activities. The most popular feature of the Fall Fiber Festival is the Sheep Dog Trials. Other events include: summer programs for children, such as the "Mud Camp," a barbecue held in the summer with local barbecue cuisine
Archaeology Expeditions
civil war demonstrations, and, in December, a candlelight tour of Montpelier in the evening.

Montpelier Forest

A forest on the property known as the Montpelier Forest (also known as the Landmark Forest) was designated as a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

in 1987. The forest was recognized as being one of the best examples of a mature

forest dominated by

tulip poplar ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus '' Liriodendron'' (the othe ...

and

spicebush Dried fruits of ''Lindera neesiana'' used as spice (coll. MHNT) ''Lindera'' is a genus of about 80–100oak and

hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mex ...

are also common in the forest. The relatively undisturbed forest contains several trees up to 300 years old. Ideal growing conditions at the site, including fertile soils, allow for the trees to attain great size; tulip poplars attain heights of up to by the time they reach 50 years of age, and some trees have been measured to have diameters of up to .

References

External links

James Madison's MontpelierThe Digital Montpelier Project
explains investigations and images as part of the restoration project
James Madison's Montpelier at Google Cultural Institute
a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
"Life Portrait of James Madison"
from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's '' American Presidents: Life Portraits'', broadcast from Montpelier, April 9, 1999
"Writings of Jefferson and Madison", broadcast from Montpelier
from C-SPAN's ''

American Writers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

''
William du Pont and William du Pont Jr. photographic materials
(1855–1928) at

Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Po ...

. Photographs of Montpelier are included in the collection.
Montpelier, 13480 South Montpelier Road, Montpelier Station, Orange County, VA
at the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS) * , a poem by

Lydia Sigourney Lydia Huntley Sigourney (September 1, 1791 – June 10, 1865), ''née'' Lydia Howard Huntley, was an American poet, author, and publisher during the early and mid 19th century. She was commonly known as the "Sweet Singer of Hartford." She had a ...

published in 1834, headed 'The residence of James Madison, Esq., Ex-President of The United States.' {{Authority control James Madison Presidential homes in the United States National Historic Landmarks in Virginia National Natural Landmarks in Virginia Museums in Orange County, Virginia Houses completed in 1764 Madison family Du Pont family residences Historic house museums in Virginia Plantations in Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia Presidential museums in Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Houses in Orange County, Virginia Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia National Trust for Historic Preservation 1764 establishments in Virginia Slave cabins and quarters in the United States Tombs of presidents of the United States Homes of United States Founding Fathers