Montpelier was the lifetime home of President James Madison, Jr., the fourth President of the United States and “architect” of the United State’s Constitution. Madison inherited the house from his father, James Madison, Sr., who constructed the earliest portion of the house in ca. 1764. With advice of his friend, Thomas Jefferson, Madison enlarged the house, adding the Tuscan portico ca. 1797. Additional changes were made ca. 1809 by James Dinsmore and John Neilson, master builders working for Jefferson. A domed garden temple was also built on the property. After Madison’s death in 1836, Dolley Madison inherited the house and sold it in 1844. The house passed through a series of owners before it was purchased by William DuPont in 1901. Mr. DuPont built extensive additions onto the Mansion and undertook a major interior renovation that dramatically altered the floor plan of the original Madison house. A major restoration project that returned the dwelling to its ca. 1816 appearance was started in 2004 and completed in 2009. Today, Montpelier remains the nucleus of an 2,700-acre estate containing farmlands, forests, formal gardens, 135 buildings, and a steeplechase course. Madison and his wife Dolley lie buried in the family cemetery on the property. The Montpelier property is owned and exhibited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is located in the Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District.

Montpelier was listed in the registers administratively, and does not currently have an approved nomination.