To reconstruct the lock, each individual surviving Madison-era door was examined for evidence of Madison-era locks.  After the evidence was recorded, a new lock was designed and built based on the ghosts found on the door.  A locksmith and several blacksmiths who specialize in recreating historic locks were then contracted to reconstruct each lock by hand.  As a result the locks not only look the way they did in Madison’s time on the outside, but their inner workings are authentic to the period as well.