Arlington House

A view of the front of Arlington House

Arlington House is the intern house for the Montpelier Archaeology Department. Every year 60-70 students, volunteers, and interns stay at this facility while participating in Montpelier's various archaeology programs. Arlington House was built in the 1840s by the Newman family and served as the main house for a middling plantation through to the Civil War. The slave quarter still survives beside the house. When the duPont family purchased the property in 1902, they renovated the house by raising the roof to accommodate a full two stories and added a large wing to the rear (where the kitchen and bathrooms are located). Following World War I, the house was used as a convalescents’ home for shell-shocked soldiers. This use contributed the wonderful bell system that is still in the house.

Since January 2006, we have been renovating Arlington House to make it into a comfortable and attractive intern residence. The entire archaeology staff cleared the debris out of Arlington House in the fall of 2005 and since then, Thomas Tyler (previously an archaeology staffer and currently with the mansion restoration crew) has spent countless hours painting and repairing the structure. More recently, Steve Currie has been assisting Thomas in this process and, through their efforts, both full bathrooms have been renovated, the kitchen has been completely done, and all of the upstairs in the original section of the house has been repaired and repainted. In addition, during the fall of 2006, the exterior was repainted. All of this work has been generously funded by Ms. Engler (who grew up in Arlington House) and our long-time supporter Cindy Reusché. This year, our winter time interns can thank the Burham manufacturer for donating a new furnace to the house in 2006.

For interns staying at Arlington House, there is a complete set of bed clothes, pillows, and towels available. In each room there are two to four beds in the house, and there are accommodations for couples. The kitchen is outfitted with two fridges, a stove, microwave, and a full set of kitchen implements that have gradually been amended by suggestions from our Earthwatch participants. The house is complete with a wireless router for internet access and satellite TV. While we do have a phone ([540] 672-2769), all long distance calls need to be made with a calling card. As with Montpelier in general, reception via cell phone is spotty at best.