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Montpelier
Photo courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

Montpelier, the lifelong home of James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution" and fourth president of the United States, was also home to three generations of the Madison family from 1723 to 1844. The mansion core was built by Madison's father c. 1760. James Madison, born in 1751, married Dolley Payne Todd in 1794. James Madison was active in Virginia and national politics, helping to frame the Bill of Rights and becoming President Jefferson's Secretary of State in 1801. Elected president of the United States in 1808, Madison's second term in office saw the United States go to war with Great Britain. After a second presidential term, the Madisons returned to Montpelier in 1817, where their legendary hospitality kept them in touch with world affairs.

[Photo]
Uncovering a wall painting including sassafras leaves

Photo courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

Following Madison's death, the contents of the house were auctioned off and Montpelier changed hands six times until it was purchased in 1900 by William and Annie Rogers duPont. Mr. duPont enlarged the house dramatically and added barns, greenhouses, staff houses and even a train station. Mrs. duPont created a two-and-a-half-acre formal garden which has been restored by the Garden Club of Virginia. The duPont's daughter, Marion, took over the 2,700-acre property in 1928. In 1984 the duPont family bequeathed the estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which now maintains it as a historic house museum. The National Trust established an independent, nonprofit foundation, The Montpelier Foundation, which assumed the management of Montpelier in 2000. In 2003, the foundation launched a painstaking five-year restoration to return the house to the way it looked when James and Dolley Madison lived there in the 1820s.

Montpelier, located four miles west of Orange on State Rte. 20 in VA, at 11407 Constitution Hwy. Montpelier Station, VA. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark.  It is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is open to the public November–March from 9:30am to 4:30pm and April-October from 9:30am to 5:30pm every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas.  In addition to guided tours of the house and self-guided audio tours of the grounds, quarterly and weekend themed tours are offered for no additional fee. Visit the Montpelier website or call 540-672-2728 ext. 140 for more information. Montpelier has also been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey.

Montpelier is the subject of an online-lesson plan, Memories of Montpelier: Home of James and Dolley Madison. The lesson plan has been produced by the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places program, which offers a series of online classroom-ready lesson plans on properties listed in the National Register. To learn more, visit the Teaching with Historic Places home page. Montpelier is also featured in the National Park Service Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Route 15 through Virginia's Piedmont Travel Itinerary.


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