Montpelier - Montpelier Station VA
Posted by: 
akern.geo
N 38° 13.136 W 078° 10.113
17S E 747876 N 4233897
Quick Description: The home of James and Dolly Madison. The mansion has recently undergone a multi-year, multi-million dollar restoration that removed extensive DuPont renovations to the home, and returned it to the 19th century Madison mansion.
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 5/30/2009 12:04:37 AM
Waymark Code: WM6G6T
Views: 5
Long Description:The restoration has to be seen to be believed!
In 1723 James Madison's grandfather Ambrose and his brother in
law Thomas Chew were were deeded 4,675 acres in this Piedmont area
of Virginia. The land was cleared and a homestead established but
the Madison family did not move from the Virginia Tidewater area to
this property which they called Mount Pleasant until 1732.
Ambrose's son James married Nelly Conway and in 1751 she gave birth
to their first of 12 children, James, in Port Conway, Virginia.
James, Nelly and infant James moved to Mount Pleasant where he
spent his first nine years. By 1760, the larger mansion had been
built and James, Jr. recalled in his memoirs helping to move the
lighter furniture to his new home.
Although James Madison left Montpelier traveled often to attend the
College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and in his
political career, he always considered Montpelier his home. In
1794, James married the widow Dolley Payne Todd. When he and Dolly
returned to Montpelier, the mansion was expanded to provide a
separate household for the couple. The two families, senior and
junior, apparently lived amicably side by side until the deaths of
James' parents.
It wasn't until his father's death in 1801 that James Jr. inherited
the estate and he and Dolly did not live full time at the estate
until 1817.
The house was expanded once more after 1808 by the Madisons with
one-story wings at each end. This was to accommodate his new
standing as a US President and the guests they would be
entertaining.
One of the last surviving Founding Fathers, James Madison died at
the age of 85 at Montpelier in June 1836. Falling on hard economic
times after James' death, Dolly gave up the Montpelier estate and
spent her last years in Washington DC. Dolly passed away in
1849.
After the Madisons, the estate was owned by a number of families
who renovated and updated the mansion. The last private owner,
Marion duPont Scott, made arrangements in her will to bequeath
Montpelier to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The
Trust took ownership after Ms. Scott's death in 1984. It was her
intention that the mansion be restored to the architecture of the
Madison home. After extensive investigation it was determined that
the "Madison house" was largely intact within the duPont mansion
and the restoration was undertaken. The restoration was dedicated
as "officially complete" on Constitution Day, September 17,
2008.
There is much more history about James and Dolly Madison and
about the house itself. Please visit the website, or better yet,
visit the estate and see for yourself.