Montpelier – The Lifelong Home of the Father of the Constitution, James Madison
James Madison left Washington with a solid legacy. He served as the fourth President of the United States, and he was also the founding father of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He returned to his lifelong home, Montpelier, located in the Orange County, Virginia after his presidential term.
Source: mortgageafterlife.com
Montpelier is a plantation house with twenty-two rooms. It’s 12,261 square foot in size. When Madison retired from office, many changes were done to the house. The house has one-story wings at each end of the building, creating a duplex. Madison and his wife, Dolley, America’s first “First Lady” lived in the newer section, while Madison’s widowed mother lived in the other section. Throughout Madison’s retirement years, he was involved in public affairs. Madison died in 1836 at the age of 85. His estate, Montpelier was later on restored and designated as a National Historic Landmark. Today, Montpelier is open to the public Monday through Sunday except for Christmas and Thanksgiving.