diff --git a/lib/polyclay.js b/lib/polyclay.js
index 2299db8..cfc2e9a 100644
--- a/lib/polyclay.js
+++ b/lib/polyclay.js
@@ -132,6 +132,13 @@ PolyClay.addType(
 	defaultFunc:   function() { return {}; }
 });
 
+PolyClay.addType(
+{
+	name:          'untyped',
+	validatorFunc: function() { return true; },
+	defaultFunc:   function() { return null; }
+});
+
 PolyClay.Model.prototype.valid = function()
 {
 	var i, p, len;
@@ -300,6 +307,7 @@ PolyClay.Model.addEnumerableProperty = function(obj, propname, enumerable)
 PolyClay.Model.addOptionalProperty = function(obj, propname)
 {
 	obj.prototype.__optional.push(propname);
+	obj.prototype.__types[propname] = 'untyped';
 
 	// No type validation on optional properties.
 	var result = function()
@@ -345,13 +353,20 @@ PolyClay.Model.prototype.serialize = function()
 
 PolyClay.Model.prototype.propertyTypes = function()
 {
-	var result = _.clone(this.__types);
-	for (var i = 0; i < this.__optional.length; i++)
-		result[this.__optional[i]] = 'untyped';
+	var props = this.__properties;
+	var result = {};
+
+	for (var i = 0; i < props.length; i++)
+		result[props[i]] = this.propertyType(props[i]);
 
 	return result;
 };
 
+PolyClay.Model.prototype.propertyType = function(prop)
+{
+	return this.__types[prop];
+};
+
 PolyClay.Model.prototype.update = function(attr)
 {
 	if (!_.isObject(attr))
diff --git a/test/test-02-persistence.js b/test/test-02-persistence.js
index 5c8a1ff..566d80c 100644
--- a/test/test-02-persistence.js
+++ b/test/test-02-persistence.js
@@ -229,7 +229,6 @@ describe('persistence layer', function()
 		assert.ok(Model.adapter instanceof MockDBAdapter);
 	});
 
-
 	it('emits before-save', function(done)
 	{
 		var obj = new Model();
@@ -338,7 +337,7 @@ describe('persistence layer', function()
 		});
 	});
 
-	it('propertyType() returns a hash of types for properties', function()
+	it('propertyTypes() returns a hash of types for properties', function()
 	{
 		var obj = new Model();
 
@@ -347,4 +346,14 @@ describe('persistence layer', function()
 
 	});
 
+	it('propertyType() can query the type of a specific property', function()
+	{
+		var obj = new Model();
+
+		obj.propertyType('key').should.equal('string');
+		obj.propertyType('required_prop').should.equal('string');
+		obj.propertyType('ephemeral').should.equal('untyped');
+		should.not.exist(obj.propertyType('nonexistent'));
+	});
+
 });