Montpelier (2/10)

Montpelier is in Orange. You pass it on the way to Monticello. Since we had time and none of us had ever been there before, we decided we had to stop on our way back to see it. And we are all glad we did. It's the home of James and Dolley Madison. Again, acknowledging my serious lack of US history, James Madison is known as the "Father of the Constitution." He was a very quiet man, but a very deep thinker. He wrote tons of things, but never had them published. This was very much on purpose. He wanted them to be published after his death so that the proceeds could support Dolley. She was really the first President's wife to come into her own as the First Lady. They were actually very good friends with Thomas Jefferson and she did some of that role for him. Madison was the fourth President of the United States.

They are in the middle of doing restoration on this house. They've really only been doing it since 2003 and the work they are doing is remarkable. Before this project, the house belonged to the DuPont family, who built onto the house, taking it from 22 to 55 rooms. They've downsized the house to how it was during Madison's time.The front doors. Aren't they a pretty shade of yellow? Dolley was not afraid of color. The amount of science that has gone into the restoration project to figure out just the right shades is absolutely incredible, but she did do one of her rooms completely in red, which I love. I've only seen pictures of what they think it looked like because they haven't finished painting yet.

The approach up to the house.

The back of the house. You can actually go outside on top of both of the wings for additional entertaining. Jefferson had many ideas for his friend's house, but Madison was much more practical of a man and if he didn't see a function for it, he didn't see a need for it. This was part of the reason for the way to use the wings, not just the additional rooms. The other cool thing was the tri-lever windows. The windows were in three sections. You could raise the bottom just for a breeze or all both lower sections for doors which would then extend the entertaining area into the patio.

In the gardens. There were lions in a few of the gardens we toured. We thought maybe they were a symbol of power. But there would almost always be two and one of them would be sad/miserable looking, like this one, so I don't know how true that theory really is.

Jen posed with the other lion in the set. He looks a little more ferocious, although not much.

Gate into the garden. It's pretty ornate.

The Temple. It's very different than my definition of a temple. But you can see how it would be a very peaceful place to reflect on whatever you need to and that point in time.

Road up to the temple and house.

Front view of the house.

Fields. Path from the slave cemetery to the family cemetery.

James Madison's grave. Shape look familiar?

Dolley Madison's grave. I don't know who put the flowers there, but it's a nice touch.

Website: www.montpelier.org