Explore 1812
ca. 1812: A Presidential Home in the Jeffersonian Tradition
James Dinsmore and John Neilson, two Irish-born carpenters who worked extensively at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello before working for President Madison, are largely responsible for the renovations and additions made to Montpelier in ca. 1812. As a result of the changes made in ca. 1812 Montpelier was transformed from a slightly off-balanced house that containing two distinctly separate households and combined into a single, architecturally correct unit. Unsurprisingly, considering that the two principal craftsmen had also worked for Thomas Jefferson, after the renovations and additions Montpelier became even more closely tied to the Classical Revival style favored by Jefferson. On the exterior the windows on the main block were replaced, a central doorway and second floor window was added on the front elevation, wings were added, a colonnade was added to the rear that featured a "Venetian doorway" on the second floor that lead out to a deck. Changes to the interior also reflected the Classical Revival style and included a major reorganization of the first floor that transformed the once Georgian interior into a more typical Classical revival styled plan. Principally this change is evidenced by the new Drawing Room and entry space that was created out of two of the ca. 1764 rooms (the Parlor and the Back Room). Other changes include installing chimneypieces in the ca. 1797 rooms and the new spaces associated with the wings. Distinctively, kitchens were found in the cellar of both wings. While finding a kitchen in the cellar of an 18th or early-19th century kitchen was rare, finding two kitchens in house was almost unheard of. However, the double kitchens at Montpelier are related to the fact that President Madison's mother, Nelly, maintained her own household in the Mansion until her death in 1828.