Railing: We had pockets in the brick that told us where the railings had been and some paintings that gave us an idea of what they would have looked like. The same carpenters that built Montpelier also worked on Monticello and the University of Virginia so we could see examples of work there to guide us. The railings are all mortise and tenoned together and held with draw-bored oak pins. There was no glue nor metal fasteners, and they are totally rigid.