Rediscovering James Madison's Montpelier.

IN THE MIDST OF AN EXTENSIVE RENOVATION of Montpelier, (1) his piedmont Virginia estate, James Madison (Fig. 5) wrote to James Monroe on December 11, 1798, that he was "in the vortex of House building in its most hurried stage ... it now being within eight or ten days of that degree of completion which is to satisfy us for the present Winter." (2) Madison was personally involved in improvements to his house and grounds both before and during his presidency. Although he noted wryly that he had "met with some mortifying delays in finishing off the last shaft of the Chimneys, and in setting about the plaistering job," he was able to invite the Monroes to visit, remarking, "I shall lose no time in letting you know that we are ready to welcome Mrs. M and yourself to our habitation." (3)

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More than two hundred years later, the exterior of Montpelier is newly restored (see Fig. 10). Years of meticulous work by a dedicated team of historians, archaeologists, architectural designers, and skilled craftsmen have come to glorious fruition--a reincarnation of Montpelier's walls as they stood during Madison's final phase of residence between 1817 and 1836. Although work on the interiors is now underway (the projected date of completion is spring 2008), tours of the house continue, allowing visitors a glimpse of a complex restoration in process.

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With Madison's birth in 1751, three generations inhabited Mount Pleasant, Montpelier's original plantation seat, built by his grand-father Ambrose Madison (c. 1696-1732). (4) The growth of the Madison brood, along with their rising social and economic status, inspired Madison's father, James Madison Sr. (Fig. 3), a justice on the Orange County Court, to construct a second finer residence on a neighboring crest overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. (5) In the mid-1760s he, his wife Nelly Conway (Fig. 2), and their six children (6) moved from the more modest hall-and-parlor frame structure at Mount Pleasant to an unfinished two-story Georgian brick mansion a third of a mile off. (7) Young James Madison observed the building of his father's house, and later recalled that he had helped to carry over the "light furniture." (8)

A fitting emblem of the family fortune, Montpelier (see Fig. 4)--at fifty-five-feet long and thirty-three-feet wide--was one of the largest buildings in Orange County and stood in stark contrast to local edifices. (9) The only other brick houses of like size in the vicinity were the one belonging to former Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood (c. 1676-1740) at Germanna (c. 1724) and Salubria in present-day Culpeper County (c. 1744), built for Spotswood's widow and her second husband. (10) Laid in Flemish bond, the bricks for the original Montpelier were molded on or near the property from regional deposits of excellent clay. Limestone for making the mortar was extracted from a quarry owned by the Madison family. As most of the Virginia piedmont was forested at that time, timber was probably cut from Montpelier's acreage. An experienced slave crew working for James Madison Sr.'s contracting business would have provided manpower to fell the lumber and raise the house.

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