About
Here is the Montpelier is the lifelong home of James Madison, Father of the Constitution, architect of the Bill of Rights, and president of the United States. Nestled in the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Montpelier is located in the heart of Virginia’s wine country on Route 20, four miles south of Orange, Virginia.
Visitors can witness the home’s recent $25 million architectural restoration through daily guided tours, and stroll the garden, forests, and many other attractions on the estate’s 2,650 acres. Montpelier recently began the second phase of its restoration: locating, authenticating and acquiring the furnishings of James and Dolley Madison’s beloved home. Please visit often to learn about the latest findings in this Presidential Detective Story.
More more information on James Madison’s Montpelier, please visit our homepage.
I’m so happy to see the restoration web site is up and running again. We visit every spring and fall (Our next visit in Oct.) but like to keep abreast of the changes. We first found Montpelier in Jan. 04 as the mapping was just starting and we feel like it’s our own project so we have to be up to date on everything. This new site is easy to use. Thanks!
Glad you like the site and please let us know if there anything we can do to make it easier to use. You’ll also definitely be in for a surprise this fall, with all of the plastering and trim work that has taken place in the last couple of months, the interior of the Mansion is really starting to look like a finished 18th/19th-century house.
Take care, Gardiner
Congratulations on so much success in the restoration! I was most recently there last spring and it seems the team has come a long way since then.
I saw an article in the Washington Post Oct 17 and some pictures there as well. I’m concerned that the walkway shown in the front of the mansion seems to be permanent, Is this actually the case? Reserving adjectives and comments and holding my breath until I get the facts…. Thanks.
Best regards
Chris,
Thanks for the kind words and there has been a lot of progress in the last couple of months. The second floor is about 3/4s plastered and the carpenters are about a 1/3 through trimming out the first floor.
As for the walkway/ramp, it has fortunately been removed and visitors now enter the house the same way they did in Madison’s time, by walking up the front stairs. We still have an ADA accessible ramp on the rear of the mansion, but it is much smaller and much less distracting. Here’s a link to a current view of the mansion’s facade: http://montpelierrestoration.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/mansion-with-out-ramp-small.jpg
The soil level still needs to be raised to its Madison-era level (which should be done in the next couple months), but with the ramp gone you can really see the mansion as Madison intended it to look.
Take care and thanks again,
Gardiner
Gardiner,
Great news, I’m so relieved!! I can’t wait to come back, hopefully next spring. Best regards to all.
Chris
Hello! I am currently a senior in high school here in Juneau Alaska. I have been a intense and enthusiastic scholar of James Madison for almost two years now and I had the priviledge to go visit Montpelier this last July and I was in awe at all the work you all are dedicating to restoration! I even made freinds with the tour guide, Ms. Ann Ferguson. Going to Montpelier was the most amazing, memorable experience of my entire life and I am very eager to go back come next summer and possibly work there.
You all are such an inspiration to me and I continue to keep you in my prayers.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Sincerely and God Bless,
Sarah Everett
My wife and I visited Montpelier a few weeks ago and really enjoyed touring the grounds. I was especially impressed with the 3D animated presentation in the Alan and Louise Potter Theater, the exhibits in the Center for the Constitution, and of course, the massive on-going restoration of the main house. Montpelier is truly a national treasure. The lifetime and legacy of the Madison family deserves to be preserved and presented, as they are often overlooked in favor of their comrades and contemporaries. Thank you for allowing us to keep track of the progress on the restoration via this blog.
Sarah,
We feel the same way about Montpelier and if you’re ever back in the area I’ll be glad to give you a tour that focuses on the house’s restoration and evolution.
Take care,
Gardiner
Michael,
Thanks for comments and we whole-heartily agree. With the architectural restoration quickly coming to an end (we should be substantially finished in six to nine months), Montpelier will soon become the ideal place rediscover the legacy of James Madison and his family.
Take care and thanks again,
Gardiner
I was last at Montpelier in July 2005 and was told at that time that the mansion’s restoration would be completed sometime in March 2008. I was also informed that this would coincide with James Madison’s birthday and that a huge celebration event would be planned. Is this timeline still accurate and will there be a celebration in March 2008?
Marcella,
March 2008 was our original target date for finishing the Mansion and a majority of the restoration will be finished by March. Most of the plastering, trim work, and painting will be finished (although we’ll still have a long punch list). The official celebration to mark the opening of the Mansion is now planned for September 17th (Constitution Day). Everyone is invited to the celebration and September in Orange County, Virginia is spectacular, so it will definitely be worth the trip.
Thanks for comment and let me know if you have any other questions,
Gardiner
I see that the official celebration of the Mansion is set for September 17th. We are planning on travelling to the University of Southern California game at UV on August 30th. Will the Mansion be open to the public prior to the official opening? We saw the Mansion in 1995 and are anxious to see all the changes. Are the gardens also being restored to their original 18th century splendor.
Thank you,
Kevin
Kevin,
The house is actually open for tours right now and it will also be open in August and early September. I can’t promise that all of the doors will be hung or all of the hardware mounted, but you should still be able to see the house almost completely restored.
The landscape around the mansion is being restored to its Madison-era appearance (including grading, roads and a fence), but the walled garden is not. The garden, which retains much what appears to be its Madison period terracing, is currently restored to it’s Marion duPont layout and is really quite spectacular in the spring and summer (and probably much changed since your last visit).
Take care,
Gardiner
We are planning on visiting Montpelier May 15, 2008. Will it be open for tours then, how much of the home will be accessible?
Thank you!
Steve,
Glad to hear you’ll make it to the opening and almost all of the house should be open on the 17th (all of the first and second floors as well as the cellars). After the 17th these rooms will also be open on the normal tour with the first and second floors being a guided tour and cellars being left for you to explore on your own.
Take care,
Gardiner
I had the privilege to visit in late February, 2008, and just found this website. I’m an amateur woodworker and witnessing the restoration is a wonderful learning opportunity. Thank you for documenting the process on this web site. I cannot wait to see the finished product, and plan to visit once more this July before returning after the grand opening. The skill of the crafts-people involved is amazing.
I’m particularly interested in the period trim. Will details of the trim, including measurements, be made available at some point? I would particularly like to be able to make a fireplace mantle and surround “inspired by” the one in the drawing room. Perhaps you could invite Norm Abram and New Yankee Workshop to feature making a copy of one of the mantels?
Regards,
Mark A.
Raleigh, NC
i am out here in San Francisco so it is too far for me to get there for a while.
with the new Visitor Center and Museum Complex a Mount Vernon and now your magnificant project you can be sure that a trip to the State of Virginia will be in the not very distant future.
good Luck with the weather on the 17th!
Ted Miles
Ted,
The Mount Vernon visitor center and Museum is a great addition to an already extraordinary site and well worth the trip from San Francisco. Combining it with the newly restored Montpelier and perhaps Monticello (which is opening a new visitor center in about 50 days) would make for a great trip.
Take care and thanks again,
Gardiner
P.S. The weather was perfect for the 17th, sunny and in the mid-70s. You can ask for better in September in Virginia.
Mark,
There are not any plans at the time to make drawings of the wood work available, but if you email me (ghallock@montpelier.org) I can send you a pdf with a scaled drawing of the Drawing Room fireplace. I have to warn you though, that egg and dart back back on the architrave is going to be tough to carve.
Having Norm out to make a copy of a mantel is also a great idea and he’d be welcome anytime.
Take care,
Gardiner
Gardiner,
Last week my wife and I made our annual visit to Montpelier. Its always exciting to see the progress from year to year. This year’s presentation was new and very interesting. Over the last few years we have have seen many changes and hear a wealth of information. My Question, has there been any discussion about writing a book about the restoration?
Thanks for your time.
Curt
Curt,
So happy to hear that you continue to enjoy your annual visit. A lot has changed in the past year!
To answer your question: yes, there is a book about the restoration in the works. Unfortunately it does not yet have a publication date.
Take care,
Megan