Unlocking Montpelier

Recently, we were able to open the main house doors to visitors, despite being closed for most of the spring and summer. During that time, we asked you for your help to unlock Montpelier's virtual doors for behind the scenes access to the people, stories, research, and stewardship that happens here every day. Our staff at  The Montpelier Foundation  is always hard at work maintaining the historic home and grounds of James and Dolley Madison, whether our doors are open or not. With your help, we made our way through the first floor. Today, on Giving Tuesday, we are asking for your help again, to help us unlock the second floor, and make even more incredible behind-the-scenes information available to you.

Today, for every $15 donation made, we will unlock one square foot of the main house on our interactive map. As you unlock squares, we will reveal videos, images, and other special content from our experts who care for, study, research, and interpret this house. You will learn about archaeological discoveries, architectural clues that aided our restoration, and some of the stories behind the hundreds of objects and people in the house. Meanwhile, your donation will help us continue to do this important work in this iconic place.

We have so many rooms to share, and so many stories to tell. Help us unlock them all.

Fill up the Map: As you make donations, the house will gradually turn Montpelier Green! You can watch our progress below:

You can see the progress we made on the first floor:

It's a team effort: Nothing at Montpelier happens alone - including this project. You will be filling these squares and unlocking new content for everyone, not just yourself!

Room by Room: We are going to move through the house room by room - when we unlock one room, all of its content will be available. And then we'll move on to the next room.

Oh, and there's a Match! The Nancy Woodson Spire Foundation will once again match all new* and increased gifts, up to $200,000, for the 2021 Fiscal Year, meaning twice as many squares will be unlocked. It also means that, for those of you who played along this summer, any gift you make will be matched!

Join Montpelier! Any donation over $50 will also make you a member of Montpelier, coming along with all kinds of benefits. Learn more about our  membership options here. 

And, there's a Special Bonus! If we unlock all the rooms in the main house, we have a special surprise for you: A bonus trip into the attic, something you wouldn't get to see whether the house is open or closed.

*Gifts are considered new if you've not made a gift to Montpelier since June 30, 2019.

Below are the rooms we are going to unlock for Giving Tuesday!

A small room between the Dining Room and the Library, the North Passage was a major thoroughfare for members of the enslaved community who accessed the cellars from the service stair, and the pantry filled with the Madison's china.

The spaces in between were areas of passageway and traffic of enslaved laborers and workers. They were also spaces of elaborate craftsmanship, storage, and connection from one room to the next. Unlock these rooms to learn how these areas were rediscovered during the restoration.

Dolley Madison's son, and James Madison's stepson, John Payne Todd, lived in this room. A unique individual in his own right, unlock this room to learn his life, and how we interpreted his room to reflect his lifestyle.

Initially the bedchamber of James and Dolley Madison, this room likely transitioned to a guest chamber. Unlock this incredibly beautiful room and learn about the research that went into learning about this room.

The room where it happened - it was in this room where James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan, which served as the basis for the United States' Constitution.

Visit the other rooms in the house! See everything we have unlocked so far, from the front steps through the entire first floor.

Before they even get inside, visitors to Montpelier experience the dramatic front portico. Click the button below to learn about this unique piece of architecture, and help us unlock the ways preservationists, archaeologists, and historians understand its purpose and function.

Nelly Conway Madison watched her son play a prominent role in the creation of the new American nation - and continued to live at Montpelier until she was 98 years old! How did her her rooms at Montpelier compare to the rest of the house? Unlock this room to learn how we discovered that Mrs. Madison kept her rooms in a distinctly colonial style.

The most impressive room of all, this primary entertainment space resulted from architectural modifications James Madison had made upon becoming president in 1809. Unlock this room to learn about wallpaper fragments, hearth stones, French furniture, and he ways our Curatorial and Collections team cares for it today.

A unique room full of art purchased mostly by Dolley Madison's son John Payne Todd. Unlock the South Passage to learn how he had the opportunity to buy European artworks, and how Montpelier's curators used historical records to recreate the collection.

Visit the room where many of the major political elite dined with James and Dolley Madison, from their good friend Thomas Jefferson, to the Marquis de Lafayette and Andrew Jackson. Learn how Madison's trash pit informed Montpelier's archaeologists and curators about the ceramics that graced the dinner table, and how Dolley Madison kept her famed ice cream cold during the dessert service.

Learn how a library built when he became president became a bed chamber and sitting room where Madison spent his retirement years compiling and editing his Notes from the Constitutional Convention.

Why did James Madison draw his last breath in a fancy French bed? How do we even know the story of his last moments? What do we know about Madison during his older years? Unlock this room to find out.

A small room between the Dining Room and the Library, the North Passage was a major thoroughfare for members of the enslaved community who accessed the cellars from the service stair, and the pantry filled with the Madison's china.

The next step is up to the second floor. See some of the most famous rooms in the house, and also learn about some of the nooks and crannies that connect one room to the next.

The spaces in between were areas of passageway and traffic of enslaved laborers and workers. They were also spaces of elaborate craftsmanship, storage, and connection from one room to the next. Unlock these rooms to learn how these areas were rediscovered during the restoration.

Dolley Madison's son, and James Madison's stepson, John Payne Todd, lived in this room. A unique individual in his own right, unlock this room to learn his life, and how we interpreted his room to reflect his lifestyle.

Initially the bedchamber of James and Dolley Madison, this room likely transitioned to a guest chamber. Unlock this incredibly beautiful room and learn about the research that went into learning about this room.

The room where it happened - it was in this room where James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan, which served as the basis for the United States' Constitution.