JAMES MADISON
4th U.S. President 1809-1817
LIFETIME: 1751-1836, of English ancestry
James Madison Home

PRIMARY HOME: " Montpelier " near Orange , VA - the original manor was expanded three times, becoming primarily Georgian in style. In the early 1900s, owner William duPont doubled the size of this home to its current state.
PHOTO CREDITS: 2004 Calendar of Presidential Homes, photographer Garren Zuck (bottom right)
www.montpelier.org, artwork depicting how Montpelier may have looked in Madison 's lifetime (top left)

 

 

Madison called his home "a squirrel's jump from heaven."

With a distant view of the Blue Ridge Mountains , the 2,700 acre Montpelier estate contained farmland and forest that had been in the Madison family since 1723. When James was 11 years old, his father built a two-story brick home with four rooms plus a central passage on each floor.

After James married Dolley in 1794, the couple joined the elder Madisons at Montpelier . A Tuscan portico was added, along with further private chambers on both floors. There was no interior access between the old and new parts of the manor, allowing each of the Madison generations to lead separate lifestyles.

Montpelier was again renovated after Madison 's presidency. Access was opened to all sections of the mansion, and a new entry plus a new kitchen were added. Also for "The Father of the Constitution," a fashionable drawing room provided ample space for entertaining.

 

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