Montpelier - Home of James Madison

This last weekend, SM and I visited Montpelier (near Orange VA), the former home of James Madison.  It was here that he was raised.  Here he did his important research and writing.  He brought his former Quaker wife, Dolley Madison to the house, and it was here he retired after his presidency.  He also died in the house.

James Madison was not a tall man, in fact he was shorter than me and his wife, Dolly.  Dolly was an asset to James Madison.  She was a politically astute partner, a charming and gracious hostess, and a flamboyantly fashionable trendsetter.  She famously saved the portrait of George Washington From the British in the War of 1812.

On the estate, James had this "temple" built.  Underneath was the ice house where ice from the river was kept all year long.  Currently you can't access the ice room but on the estate there were archaeologists working and answering questions.  They were trying to find things about what the estate was like during the time of James Madison.

We couldn't take any photos in the house but I loved the garden area.  Take a look at those two marble lions.  Aren't they cute?  Usually stone lions are kind of fierce and scary looking but these were almost cuddly.  I enjoyed the herb garden, especially identifying the herbs that I knew and, of course, there were a few that I didn't know.

The Madison's were buried on the property.  Here's the headstone honoring their lives.  Now just a little bit more information I learned about the Madisons.  Dolly was a widow when she married James.  She brought her toddler son and a sister with her after she married James.  They shared the house with his parents...the house was more like a duplex with two front doors and a wall separating the two households.  The toddler was named Payne Todd and he grew up to be a gambler and playboy...which was too bad because Dolly and James were never able to have children and Payne Todd was disappointment.

A view of the front lawn from the house.  On each side of the house on the second level, there were balconies.  It was fun to view the area and "mountains."  It is such beautiful country.  One of the other cool things about the house is that it currently is housing dressses of Dolly Madison.  They aren't her real dresses but they are dresses that were made for an actress that played Dolly in a movie made just recently.  But they are made as authentically as possible.  There were probably ten different dresses along with hats and gloves.  They were amazing and it was too bad I couldn't take any photos of the dresses.

And here is a view of the backyard from that same balcony.  I loved being able to go to Montpelier and learn about James Madison and his family.  He was one of the founding fathers of our nation. "As a leader in the first Congress, he helped shape the new government, introduced the Bill of Rights, and ensured its passage.  As president, he guided the new nation through its first war, demonstrating that Constitutional government could survive a national crisis." (I got the quote from the pamphlet at Montpelier).