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The shingle fragment was also used to determine the shape, the type of wood, and the overlap for the new shingles.  By knowing the shingle’s shape and the overlap (or how much of each shingle was covered by the course above it) a design was developed for the reconstructed roof.  However, before the design could be finalized there were two other questions that needed to be answered.  First, how did the shingles terminate at the hips of the roof?  Second, how did the Madisons’ roofers treat the valleys created where the Portico met the main block?  To answer these questions the Restoration Team first turned to other period examples.  However, as the deconstruction phase progressed, new fragments of Madison-period shingles were found in the framing of Montpelier's roof that would enable the Restoration Team to answer these questions much more accurately.

2c

A ca. 1797 heart pine shingle found in the Garret of Montpelier.