Montpelier is near Charlottesville, in the Piedmont, just over two and a half hours away from Hampton Roads. It gets overlooked in favor of Monticello and Mount Vernon, but it really shouldn't be. It's not a bad drive, especially this time of year, when everything is so scenic. It was nice to arrive and find everything we needed in one place, with a great visitor's center, restaurant, and coffee shop on the grounds (we were especially glad for the coffee shop).
First, we explored -- the columned temple, the slave quarters, and the archaeological area where we could even help dig for pieces of pottery and tools dating back to the colonial era. Then I took the tour of the house while James and Anouk went down to the children's area to play. It was a small tour, only covering about five rooms in the huge house, but the guide gave us so much information that it seemed much more.
Especially interesting was hearing about how the National Trust began renovating the home in 2008, and how they are currently going about searching for the furniture and belongings of Madison and his wife, Dolley, to add to their collection. There's still a lot of restoration work going on, especially in the slave quarters, but I really appreciated the fact that our guide, Blaine, gave an in-depth look at what life was like for the slaves at Montpelier, especially for Madison's manservant, Paul Jennings, who was around for some of the most intimate moments of his master's life.
Photography wasn't allowed inside the house, which is unfortunate because it was so beautiful I would have liked to share a look. But you can see some photos online here.
After the tour: more exploring, including the gardens built by the duPont family, who owned Montpelier in the '60s (and painted it pink!), and watching the sun set behind the Blue Ridge mountains. Such a great way to spend a November afternoon.
PS: The visit also gave me a new respect for Dolley Madison. You always read about how her parties were so big and that she basically invented ice cream but I had no idea how beloved she was by pretty much all of Washington society (Congress unanimously loved her, which should tell you something, because when is the last time they agreed on anything?) This is a great article by Smithsonian Magazine about her.
