History of the Landscape

The earliest portion of the existing Montpelier main house was constructed c.1760 by James Madison, Sr. (1723-1801), father of the president. During Madison Sr.'s tenure, the landscape surrounding the main house included a variety of plantation structures. An extensive ironworking complex was located northwest of the main house, near the present temple, and domestic outbuildings occupied the area in the south yard. The landscape is likely to have been that of a colonial-era working plantation, probably with few refinements. However, one significant landscape feature—still a major part of Montpelier today—is the vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains seen from the front portico.

James Madison

Following Madison Sr.'s death in 1801, his eldest son, James Madison, Jr. (1751-1836), later fourth president of the United States, inherited Montpelier. The younger Madison set about refining the grounds surrounding the main house. Madison Sr.'s ironworks were relocated, and replaced by Madison Jr.'s Temple, which covered an ice house below. Other outbuildings were masked by a screen of trees. Landscape changes and plantings gave the grounds the look of an English estate of the period. Contemporary accounts mention Montpelier's broad lawns, natural woodland borders, and open vistas, with large native trees in groupings throughout the lawn. Native tree species were also used extensively in plantings, such as the white pines (pinus strobus) used to line the passage from the main house to the garden temple.

President Madison corresponded with horticulturists in America and Europe, and introduced a number of exotic plant materials to the Montpelier landscape. One introduction is thought to be the large cedar-of-Lebanon (cedrus libani) at the entrance to the formal garden. Some of the black walnuts (juglands nigra) and tulip trees (liriodendron tulipifera) located on the back lawn and the walnut hollow are also thought to date to Madison's time.

There is limited information regarding the appearance of the main house grounds at Montpelier during the half-century after the estate passed from Madison family ownership in 1844. However, several visitors, including President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878, remarked on the extreme size and age of many of the trees surrounding the house. Available documentation indicates that most of the Madison-era outbuildings had been cleared from the vicinity of the main house by the late 1800s.

The duPonts

Much of the English-park style landscape was retained by William duPont, who purchased Montpelier at the beginning of the 20th century. Exotic trees replaced the declining over-mature trees of the Madison period as these fell victim to decay or disease. Ornamental shrub beds were planted, including the double rows of boxwood in front of the main house, as were large beds of shrubs, trees, and perennials to the sides and rear of the main house. The circular driveway in front was also constructed at this time. Today, visitors are welcome to stroll among the outstanding mature trees on Montpelier's grounds. More than 50 different species of unique evergreens and deciduous specimens create an unforgettable arboretum.

The broad view of the Blue Ridge Mountains was preserved in the duPont era. The plantings around the main house and the vista of the Blue Ridge serve to frame the last major addition to the landscape—the flat racing track and steeplechase race course, built in the late 1920s.