In any other restoration the investigation of the shutters would have entailed a long, detailed study of other surviving early 19th century shutters in Virginia and the hardware used to mount them.  However, for this investigation the Montpelier restoration team got very, very lucky.  When the duPonts started their renovations and additions to Montpelier, they did not throw away the existing shutters even though many of them were severely deteriorated.  Instead of destroying them the duPonts placed them in a barn for safekeeping.  When the Investigation Team that undertook the restoration feasibility study in 2001 discovered the shutters, they quickly realized that many of them dated to ca. 1812.