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What to See and Do

Visitor Center

The new Visitors Center

Make your first stop the Visitor Center to get a map, see an interactive model of the estate, and plan your visit. Begin your tour with a short presentation in the Alan and Louise Potter Theater to learn all about the $25 million architectural restoration and the Presidential Detective Story: Rediscovering the Furnishings and Décor of James and Dolley Madison.

Grills Gallery

The Museum Gift Shop

While at the Visitor Center, stop by the Joe and Marge Grills Gallery to see the Treasures of Montpelier—Madison's spyglass, a brace of pistols, snuff box, Dolley's engagement ring, and a reproduction of her red dress.

duPont Gallery

At the south end of the Visitor Center you can stroll through the duPont Gallery to see what life was like at Montpelier during the early-20th century for another grand American family.

Courtyard Café and Museum Shop

Don't forget to rest and lunch in the Courtyard Café...

... and shop in the beautiful Museum Shop for books and postcards for you, and keepsakes for friends and family.

The Madisons' Home

The centerpiece of the Montpelier experience is the tour of the lifelong home of James Madison, Father of the Constitution, and his wife Dolley, who inspired the title First Lady. See how an 1820s mansion emerged from the past as some of the nation's best craftsman and artisans peeled back the layers of history. The architectural restoration was completed September 17, 2008, Constitutional Day.

The Children's Getaway

When James and Dolley were alive, they often welcomed a bevy of nieces and nephews to their home. Now Montpelier has a new place just for kids. On weekends, children and their parents can visit the Children's Getaway, across the hall from Dolley's Kitchen. The Getaway has books to read and books to color, dolls and toys, and "kid-sized" furniture. The Getaway even has Montpelier postcards that the youngest visitors can send to friends or Grandma.

Dolley's Kitchen and Outdoor Cooking Demonstrations

The outdoor cooking demonstration, located on the mansion's north yard, will allow visitors to see what cooking techniques were used in the early-19th century. Visitors can churn butter, grind spices, and knead biscuits that will be cook over an open fire. From there, they can step down into the self-guided cellar and step back in time to see Dolley Madison's indoor kitchen and interactive displays.

Mr. Madison's Temple

Just north of the mansion, you can stand in the Temple where James Madison contemplated democracy, and take in the view of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Conscious of both landscape geometry and beauty, the ever-practical Madison situated his Temple over the plantation ice house and within eyesight of the second-story deck of the mansion's north wing. In this way, revelers could view the mountains and the Temple, while making good use of the ice stored beneath it.

Hands-on Tent

Located on the mansion's back lawn, this tent allows children and adults to learn about period chores and crafts, and to try them out first-hand. Museum educators will instruct visitors in various forms of 18th-century craftsmanship. Make a brick, saw a log, plane a board, and drill a hole with period tools.

Madison Family Cemetery

Just behind the Mount Pleasant site lies the Madison Family Cemetery—the final resting place of James and Dolley Madison.

Slave Cemetery

A few hundred yards north of the Madison Family Cemetery is the Slave Cemetery, containing the graves of at least 38 members of Montpelier's enslaved community. Archaeologists suspect that the graveyard may have extended beyond this known position.

Gardens and Grounds

Montpelier offers 2,650 acres of rolling hills, spacious horse pastures, and spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Plan to spend some time enjoying the gardens and grounds.

Annie duPont Formal Garden

Wander the two-acre Annie duPont Formal Garden featuring formal walkways, sweeping beds, an herb garden, and magnificent marble lions and urns. Established in Madison's time, the Garden was renovated by Annie duPont in the early 1900s.

James Madison's Landmark Forest

The James Madison Landmark Forest is a 200-acre old-growth forest that offers miles of walking trails for beginning and experience hikers alike. The U.S. Department of the Interior designated the Forest a National Natural Landmark in 1987. Several prize-winning trees live in the Forest.

The Montpelier Forest Demonstration Trail

The Demonstration Forest is an outdoor exhibit that shows the best ways to manage a healthy, sustainable forest. The Demonstration Forest Trail extends from the James Madison Landmark Forest as a one-mile loop. Visitors can observe proper forestry management techniques at four demonstration stations along the trail.

Mount Pleasant Site

Just west of the Visitor Center and east of the Madison Family Cemetery lies the site of the original family homestead, Mount Pleasant. Built by James Madison's grandfather, Ambrose, the first Madison home site is 500 yards from the current home.

Active Archaeological Dig: Slave Quarters in the South Yard and Stable Quarter

Visit the South Yard of the mansion to see the latest discoveries in Montpelier's exploration of the enslaved community. This season, Montpelier's archaeology team will excavate the quarters where the domestic slaves lived and worked. Visitors can also watch as crews build the wooden outlines of the homes, kitchens, and smokehouses that once populated the South Yard. A kitchen and duplex have been erected, and two smokehouses will be built beginning the last week in July.

Archaeology Laboratory

Montpelier's archaeology lab offers visitors behind-the-scenes view of archaeologists at work. Visitors will be able to watch archaeologists wash, identify, mend, and conserve recent discovers buried for 200 years in Madison's kitchen work yard, slave quarters, and home. The lab also contains displays and study collection drawers of glassware, porcelain, bones, buttons, and Civil War artifacts—all available for viewing—plus a state-of-the-art touch screen that teaches visitors about archaeology at Montpelier. Working archaeologists are available seven days a week to answer questions.

Dig for Treasure: Kid-Sized Archaeology

On the covered deck of the archaeology lab, children can experience first-hand the three steps in an archaeological discovery: dig; wash; and identify. Here they can dig for genuine artifacts with a real archaeologist's trowel, wash their finds, and identify what they have discovered. Endless for kids of all ages!

The Montpelier Train Depot: In the Time of Segregation

Located on the east side of Route 20, the authentically restored 1910-era Train Depot helps visitors learn about the "Jim Crow" period of segregation in a space where it actually happened. The old segregated "colored" and "white" waiting rooms show the stark reality of racism that African-American travelers endured during this period. Visitors can also see exhibits on the history of African-American life in Orange county and the country, and the history of the Train Depot and its central role in the local community. Read more »

Gilmore Cabin: A Freedman's Farm

Former Montpelier slave George Gilmore built this cabin for his family in the early 1870s. The cabin and 16-acre farm offers a glimpse of what life was like for African-Americans in the years during the Reconstruction era. Museum educators will be on hand to demonstrate the techniques of 19th-century farm life. The Gilmore Cabin is located on the west side of Route 20.

Civil War Encampment Sites

Take a walk through the woods to see a Confederate Civil War Encampment archaeological site, occupied by General Samuel McGowan's troops during the winter of 1863-1864. Montpelier archaeologists discovered the site in 2002.

Rebuilding Montpelier's Civil War Huts

Come and see local Civil War reenactors of the 3rd Regiment of the Army of Northern Virginia rebuild five period huts using the same construction techniques and materials that Confederate troops would have used in the depths of the winter of 1863-1864. When finished the encampment will represent the only authentic presentation of a "company street" in the United States. See the Calendar of Events for when they will be behind the Gilmore Cabin: A Freedman's Farm.

"Dolley Madison's Life Through Fashion: Dressing the Part" Exhibit

Visit Montpelier to see the Dolley Madison costumes from the PBS documentary Dolley Madison: America's First Lady. Explore the meaning of fashion to the woman who inspired the title "first lady." Read more »

Summer Programs

Plan a unique summer adventure at Montpelier for your child. Programs for children ages four through 12. Read more »