James Madison's Montpelier, located in Orange County, Virginia, was the plantation house of the Madison family, including Founding Father and fourth president of the United States James Madison and his wife, Dolley.
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It’s obvious there is a lot of care going into the Montpelier estate. The house has been carefully restored, with more and more original and period furniture and artifacts being added over time. Moreover, the ground is being carefully excavated where all the slave quarters used to be, turning up various discoveries and providing more and more information about these most forgotten of people. Not just a token effort, it’s instantly apparently that a lot of people are actively involved in the archaeology.
As a result, the basement of the house now houses the exhibit “The Mere Distinction of Color”, based on a Madison statement about how arbitrary the great evil of slavery was applied. You can visit before or after any tour and get a sense of the lives of enslaved people. Including what they can of names, jobs, and activities of individuals. It’s clear this is more than a token gesture. And if (like me) you don’t want to dwell on depressing things during a vacation, you can take it as an appreciation of your life.
Now as for the main tour, there are two. I chose the “Constitution” tour, expecting it to be the more “nerdy” (my word) one. (The other, which I didn’t take, seems to have more information on Dolley and their lives here.)
The tour does a good job marrying the chronological progression of James Madison’s life with the physical progression through the house. In the dining room, the guide related some of the political discussions Madison would have. In the parlor, the various artwork indicated his views on church vs state and how he would relate that to visitors. In the library we covered his work on the Bill of Rights. Not everything was a perfect match (nor did it need to be) but it was a nice way to make this sort of tour work.
The reason I only give 4 stars though is that, as someone moderately knowledgable of history, I didn’t feel away coming I had learned much of significance. Not much was covered of Madison’s philosophical interests other than mentioning many of the well-known English and French ones of the 18th century. The Federalist Papers were mentioned in terms of their role, but nothing of Madison’s specific views expressed in them. Virtually nothing of Madison’s work between the Bill of Rights and his retirement were mentioned - nothing about the conflicts he faced while weighing central power vs limited government. Etc.
Given a broad audience and the time limits of a tour, perhaps that’s not possible. But given the existence of two tours, I did hope this would be a little more complex. Still worth it though.
P.s. The DuPonts have exhibits in the visitor center and were important in the history of the house, but didn’t really come up in the interior tour. If you tour Montpelier you’ll be hearing about James Madison first and foremost.
P.p.s. It’s not a large or ornate house by most standards, but offers enough to see. No photography is...
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Where in the world do my reviews go? I reviewed this yesterday but yet it shows up here asking me about it. Blake was our tour guide and he was so very informative. The tour wouldn't have been nearly as good without him giving us all the tidbits. Things in the house are from that time that they were there. Many other things are from the period. The carpet in the dining room is the exact same carpet pattern they had. Ditto the wallpaper. It was pretty gaudy.
My estimation of Dolly Madison is in the pits now. She was a frivolous woman who didn't honor her husband's dying wishes and was a spendthrift.
We went when winter was just beginning. It was cold. We went out on the grounds and I bet the garden, when they had it, was just brimming with beauty and veggies. The gentlemen there were extremely nice.
We went for the 2:00 tour, and it was an hour long. My suggestion is go for an earlier tour because 2:00 takes up the whole day.
The gift shop has some of the most divine measuring spoons I've ever seen in my life. But at $25 it was a bit pricey for me.
They would get many many more people coming in if they drop the price from $36 to $20. Yes yes, they say that they need the money. And it takes a lot of money for the upkeep. I'm sure it does, but so many more people would come see this place if it wasn't so expensive.
It would also be good to have golf carts for people that can't walk as far as it is from the gift shop. It's an 8-minute walk up a slight hill.
When you come out of the tour it's in the back of the house and it is quite a hike to get back to the parking lot.
Inside of the house there are a few chairs here and there to sit in. For me with plantar fasciitis at the time, it was helpful. But I had already been standing and walking for 40 minutes before then.
If you have any sort of foot/back problem I would think twice before going. It's a lot of standing & walking.
While the information given was interesting, as were some of the items, I don't think the house is worth $36. We got in free on...
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This was a really impressive place to visit but don't expect to learn much about the president. There was a lot about the house and his wife but they didn't not talk a lot about the man as President or otherwise. I left not having a feeling of the man. You get a some dates and facts but you don't get a since of the man like you do when you visit Monticello and Mount Vernon. They do have one of the best exhibits on the enslaved community subjugated there. One thing that did become clear during the visit was that Madison's wife Dolly and her son were garbage human beings that destroyed families to maintain her own lifestyle and even allowed herself to be excommunicated from her own religion to gain the wealth and comforts slavery gave her. Her son was a degenerate gambler, drunkard and womanizer and she lived above her means driving her family into crippling debt to host and entain people. I should clarify that I found the grounds impressive the inside of the home and the tour was less so. Our guide was fine and did a good job but we just didn't have enough time on the tour to see everything and ask all the questions we wanted to. If you want a really intimate tour visit his birth place at the Belle Grove Plantation. The place is not as expansive but can a more intimate experience. That plantation is also a working bed and breakfast so you can stay there but it's...
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