We visited James Madison's Montpelier while we were in the southern Virginia area, but we arrived too late to tour the house, so we ended up seeing the William DuPont rooms in the Visitor's Center.
I liked this mural in the Visitor Center, James Madison's wife, Dolley Madison made sure to preserve the artifacts in the White House before the British set it ablaze in the War of 1812.
Since we couldn't tour the house, we toured the property and gardens - Anne DuPont's Formal Gardens, which is free compared to the $20 entrance fee for the Montpelier House.
Despite the October fall weather, the grounds were still beautiful and we found dashes of floral color all around.
The gate opened up to Annie duPont's Formal Garden. During James Madison's time, the gardens contained a mixture of vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, and ornamental shrubs. When William duPont purchased the property in 1901, his wife Annie transformed the rundown plot into a 20th century formal garden. Terraces were restored; flower beds, shrubs, and trees were planted; and the brick garden walls, statuary, and ornamental iron gates were added. The walled garden was reminiscent of Chris Van Allsburg's book "The Garden of Adul Gazazi" sans the bushes made to look like animals.
Mike and I took some beautiful shots of the garden.
