SPRING 2016
The Most Meticulous Roofer
Some people think Peter Post is a historical roofer. He’s put on 14 roofs at Mount Vernon alone,
including those on the bell-shaped necessaries and the octagonal cupola. His work on James Madison’s
Temple follows on the heels of his stunning work on the house, with its dramatic and labor-intensive
swept valley construction. Post has spent 37 years as a “tool belt-wearing general contractor guy”
specializing in every aspect of carpentry and paint on houses built before 1850 all over the U.S. and
Canada. His heart is in Virginia, though, where Peter Post Restoration is based. We spoke to him about
his experience working with the Temple.
Were you excited to get your hands on
the Temple?
Tell us about the original shingle you found and
its importance.
“That’s the symbol of Montpelier. It’s on people’s
t-shirts, and it’s on their hats, and it’s the logo.
Whoever chose that as the symbol of Montpelier
really hit it. I’ve always revered it as a unique
building with really intriguing ideas about how it
got there and why.
“Out of everything in that ceiling there was only
one original shingle that was discovered. That told
us a huge amount of information about the first
roof. I was overjoyed; it was unbelievable. It was like
getting the golden ticket in the Willy Wonka movie.
“It’s pretty heady stuff, being at Montpelier and
knowing that James Madison was thinking about
the Constitution there. I really appreciate the
significance of that structure and just the age and
the era it was made in.”
“I don’t think anyone expected to find a shingle
with a beveled butt on it. That one had it, and I’ve
never seen it anywhere else. It’s unique. Thank
goodness there was one scrap of original shingle to
glean that information from.”
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