The former home of James Madison, the fourth U.S. President and second rector of the University's Board of Visitors, is undergoing major renovations to restore it to its original form. The estate, called Montpelier, is located in nearby Orange, Va.
The home had gone through many owners, additions and renovations through the centuries, but the new renovations strive to restore it to its original design.
Madison's home originally was a fairly modest, colonial-style home. After Dolly Madison, wife of James Madison, sold the home in 1844, ownership varied until Montpelier was bought by the DuPont family in 1901. The family made significant additions, doubling the size of the home and adding pink stucco to the brick.
"The most noticeable change to a visitor would be that the house is no longer pink," Montpelier Foundation President Michael Quinn said. "All of the expansions added by the DuPont family have been taken away and the roof has gone from metal to wood shingle. The change has been very profound."
The renovations of Montpelier were fairly controversial, according to Architecture Prof. Richard Wilson, who specializes in the architectural history of 18th and 19th century design.
"It was a classic dilemma," Wilson said. "You have a house that had been of major historical importance because of former tenants, but was extensively altered by the next owner. ... The additions were interesting though not particularly distinguished, and there are many similar mansions open to the public throughout the country. In the case of [the original house of] James and Dolly Madison, there wasn't much that you could see."
The restoration of Montpelier has been ongoing for several years. Montpelier Director of Restoration John Jeanes said the process had been very thorough and included two phases. The first phase was a feasibility study, aimed in part at evaluating whether the plans could be completed in a historically accurate manner, lasting from October 2001 through the end of 2003. The physical restoration began in January of 2004, and is expected to be complete by late 2007 or early 2008.
The architects became confident that Montpelier could be restored to its beginnings and this belief was supported by strong evidence from various sources.
According to Jeanes, master builder James Densmore left thorough accounts of the work he did for the Madison house. In addition to these documents, visitor accounts, watercolors, lithographs, photographs and physical evidence were all used to form "a kind of forensic architecture" for the house's reconstruction, he said.
The reconstruction project has very specific goals for the restoration. "Our goal is very straightforward," Quinn said. "To return James Madison to the American people. Our goal is that this is where the palpable evidence of Madison survives, and when you come in this house, you can feel his presence, personality and character. You gain a better understanding of how all of that contributed in his contributions to the Bill of Rights and our Constitution."
Perhaps visitors from the University community will gain an appreciation of a man whose contributions to the University founding are, arguably, only rivaled by Mr. Jefferson himself. Madison assisted Jefferson in developing plans for the University and served on the Board of Visitors for 17 years.
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