Madison for resident: Montpelier gets extreme makeover

Madison for resident: Montpelier gets extreme makeover

Like a delicate butterfly emerging out of a bloated pink pupa, Montpelier has metamorphasized back into its original self, circa 1820. The change is dramatic, the stuccoed mansion expanded by William and Annie duPont is no more, and historians say that's a good thing.

"Spectacular," says Dan Jordan, director of Monticello. "It was done with great care and a high degree of professionalism." 

Visitors to the house, which opened to the public in 1987, saw a grand mansion but couldn't determine what was Madison and what was duPont.

"People knew it wasn't the original Madison," says Michael Quinn, president of the Montpelier Foundation, the organization that oversees the National Trust-owned estate.

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