Montpelier Restoration Update – 1/16/2008 through 1/23/2008

Plastering

The masons have put the scratch coat onto the walls and ceiling of M-105 (Dining Room). A brown coat has also been applied to the walls and ceiling of M-104 (Mr. Madison’s Room). Currently, they are putting a brown coat onto the ceiling of M-105. Plastering in M-100 (North Wing Chamber) has been completed and, since the walls will be coated with a dark yellow distemper, they have not been whitewashed.

 

Painting

Dino Copeland has finished prepping Dolley Kitchen for painting and has started to prep M-100. Jack Fisher has also started to apply the hand-ground, linseed-oil based paints to the second floor trim. This traditional paint is very similar to what Madison would have used (minus the white lead pigment) and forms a “ropey” texture that is a defining characteristic of hand-ground paints.

 

Millwork

Blaise Gaston has started to layout and carve the flutes and composition ornament impressions for the chair rail in M-108 (Drawing Room). When this chair rail is finished and installed, it will be the highest status chair rail in the house.

 

M-109 (South Passage)

Gene Lyman continues to repair pieces of the South passage’s circa 1765 wainscot

M-106 (North Passage)

Mac Ward continues to install the stair railing. To securely fit a small section of the hand rail between two newels on the landing, he has cut mortises into both newels and installed a square, scarf-jointed wooden inner rail into the openings. After the rail was set, he then hollowed out a section of the finished railing and slipped it over the inner rail. This technique allows for a stable railing that does not have any visible joints or fasteners.

 

M-108 (Drawing Room)

Ed Gomez continues to install and repair the baseboard for this room. In the course of removing an existing piece of baseboard he found a section of original baseboard that had been re-used as a shim in circa 1880. This piece of baseboard originally butted against the plinth of the stone chimney surround and provides evidence for how the baseboard and base cap terminated against the chimney piece during Madison’s ownership.

 

M-118 (South Wing Chamber)

Keith Forry is installing reconstructed caps on the baseboards in this room. All of the caps had been removed when Marion duPont converted the space into her “Red Room” in the 1930s. The Red Room was an art deco designed living room/parlor and was one of the most iconic spaces in the duPont’s Montpelier. Because of its importance it has been re-installed in duPont wing of the new Montpelier visitor center.

Bill Bichell is also installing the cornerbeads on the face of the chimney stack. Prior to installing the beads, wooden nailers first need to be inserted into the bead joints of the masonry.

 

 

M-002 (North Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin has installed the stringers for this stair and has started to install the treads.

 

Colonnade

The ipe sleepers have been installed and the carpenters are assembling the deck panels and laying out the Chinese railing that will encircle the deck.

 

Exterior

Roofers from Martin Roofing have finished installing the copper downspouts for the gutter system.

Montpelier Restoration Update – 1/10/2008

Plastering

The masons have applied the finish coat to the wall of M-100 (north wing chamber) and are putting the brown coat onto the walls of M-104 (Mr. Madison’s Room). They have also started to whitewash M-101 (North wing, east closet).

 

Millwork

The dresser (a piece of furniture much like a modern kitchen counter with shelves above it) for Dolley’s kitchen was delivered. Evidence for the dresser was found on the east wall of Dolley’s kitchen and it was fabricated by Blaise Gaston.

Blaise Gaston and Nick Oster are currently reconstructing the exterior doors for the wings and M-111 (Southeast Chamber).

 

M-112 (Old Dining Room)

Gene Lyman has finished installing the baseboards in the closet under the period I (circa 1765) south stair.

 

M-106 (North Passage)

Mac Ward is installing the stair railing. To provide extra support to the railing, four iron balusters have been added. Iron balusters were a traditional way to strengthen stair railings in the early-19^th century and the iron balusters on the Montpelier stair will be visually indistinguishable from the adjoining wooden balusters.

 

M-108 (Drawing Room)

Ed Gomez continues to install the chair rail and baseboard. After the chair rail has been fitted, it will be removed and triglyphs will be carved into the fascia. Oval rosettes made from composition (composition is a material made from chalk, hide glue, resin and linseed oil that was commonly used to recreate architectural ornaments in the late-18^th and early-19^th centuries), similar to rosettes found at Arlington House in Arlington County, Virgina, will be applied between the triglyphs. Gold Leaf Studios in Washington DC is making the composition rosettes.

We also received the models for the egg-and-dart moldings that will be installed on the Drawing Room pediment. The models were carved by Fred Wilber and include examples of both the horizontal and the raking sections. Molds taken from these models will be used to produce the sections of composition ornament that will be applied to the pediment.

 

M-109 (South Passage)

Gene Lyman is repairing the pieces of circa 1765 wainscot that will be installed in this space. Even thought the wainscot was altered by the duPonts when they added a partition at the east end of the passage, almost all of the paneling survived. To repair the paneling, Gene is replacing portions of the end stiles (vertical boards that form the frame around the panels) that were removed during the duPont renovations.

 

M-115 (South Wing, East Closet)

Bill Bichell is installing the plank embrasure for the window in this space. Keith Forry has also finished installing the baseboards for this room.

 

M-118 (South Wing Chamber)

Keith Forry is installing the reconstructed baseboards on the east and south walls of this room.

 

M-201 (Large Bedroom)

Jack Fisher, a painter who specializes in applying historic paints, has started to prepare the walls of 201 for a glue based distemper. To prepare the walls he is applying what is essentially a primer made from an unpigmented distemper. Distemper was specified for this room because it was found on the surviving circa 1810 corner beads that flanking the fireplace.

 

M-206 (Drawing Room Chamber)

Dino Copeland is priming the trim. When this room is finished, all of the second floor will have been prepped for painting and primed.

 

M-002 (North Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin has finished installing the cellar stair partition and is installing the cellar stair stringers.

 

M-007 (1765 Cellar)

Tim Proffit is rebuilding the back wall of the cellar fireplace.

 

M-008 (South Cellar Passage)

The masons continue to prepare this room for plastering by making final adjustments to the spacing of the laths. The lath spacing is critical because if it is too narrow or too wide, the wet plaster will not attach, or key, correctly.

 

Colonnade

The ipe sleepers are being installed on the colonnade deck.

Montpelier Restoration Update – 12/26/2007 through 1/2/2008

Plastering

The masons have applied the scratch coat to the walls and ceiling of M-104 (Mr. Madison’s Room) and are currently putting the brown coat onto the ceiling. They also continue to plaster in M-103 and are preparing the Dining Room (M-105) and the South Cellar Passage (M-008) for plastering.

 

M-112 (Old Dining Room)

Gene Lyman has finished installing the cap for the wainscot and has started to install the baseboards in the closet under the period I (circa 1765) south stair.

 

M-108 (Drawing Room)

Ed Gomez has started to install the chair rail and restore the missing pieces of baseboard in this room.

 

M-111 (Back Chamber)

Mac Ward has almost finished re-installing the door frame that leads into M-110 (South Stair). This door frame was also re-used by the duPonts and was recovered during the restoration’s deconstruction phase.

 

M-116 (South Wing Passage)

Keith Forry has finished trimming the doors and is installing baseboards. Since this room does not have a chair rail, the space will be completely trimmed once he is finished.

 

M-002 (North Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin continues to install the north cellar stair enclosure. All of the boards have been fitted and primed and he should be installing them this week.

 

M-003 (1797 Cellar)

Les Lamois and Thomas Tyler have finished installing the wooden floor in the cellar. They have also installed the studs for the partitions that will divide the space into approximately four separate rooms. The studs were placed in the original 1797 lap mortises and are made out of heart pine. To give the new material a period appropriate finish, an adze was worked up and down the face of each stud.

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M-008 (South Cellar Passage)

The masons are preparing this room for plastering by removing a gypsum plaster finish coat that was applied over a layer of circa 1850 stucco in the 1880s or 1900s. The 1850s stucco, which once covered all of the Mansion’s exterior walls, was painted to look like granite blocks. This is one of the few places that the circa 1850s stucco survives and it gives great insight into how the Mansion appeared after it was sold out of the Madison family.

 

West (Front) Yard

The two holly trees that once flanked the portico have been removed. They were planted in circa 1950 by Marion duPont and were not part of the original Madison landscape. With the trees gone, we are now able to restore the west yard’s grade back to its circa 1820 level and begin to work on reconstructing the historic roads and paths.