Ah, the echoes of elite Christmases past ring though Winterthur's elegant halls! But before we do a holiday meander through its halls & grounds, first a history lesson!
Turn left out of Longwood Gardens, go down Baltimore Pike/Rt. 1 just a tad, then turn right onto Rt. 52 for a leisurely drop down toward Wilmington & a yuletide visit to Winterthur, the home that sheltered & nurtured generations of du Ponts, with the family living there from 130 continuous years.
Originally built by a du Pont son-in-law ~ Jacques Antoine Bidermann, who married Evelina du Pont ~ it was originally a "modest" 12-room Greek-revival manor house, named Winterthur after his family's ancestral home in Switzerland.
Young Jacques had come to America at the request of his father, one of the largest European investors of the day, to check out whether E.I du Pont de Nemours & Company was worth investing. The young Bidermann not only found the company to be financially sound, he was hired away from his father & married the boss' daughter!
Alas, Jacques & Evelina died without heirs, so they left the home to her nephew, Henry Algernon du Pont. My guess is they were pleased to leave it to such an exemplary fellow. By the time Henry inherited Winterthur, he'd graduated first in his West Point class, served as a Colonel in the Civil War & was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor!
Under Henry Algernon's stewardship, modest changes were made to the estate - expanding the estate road system, literally raising the roof & other modest changes to the interior. Ah, but it was his son, Henry Francis du Pont, who laid the foundations for what is today's Winterthur.
The Rockefellers developed Colonial Williamsburg; Henry Francis nurtured his home into a museum dedicated to preserving the best of American style & craftsmanship. The house, grown from its original 12 rooms to 175, range in style from unpretentious simplicity to utter opulence.
There's spatterware from the Pennsylvania Germans, austere Shaker designs, ornate Chippendale balanced by pragmatic Colonial Windsor chairs, with Chinoiserie elements throughout.
The museum home opened it doors in 1951, with Henry Francis & his family still living there!
The house is just part of the allure. It's surrounded by 1,000 acres containing a bounty of gardens & pathways designed to showcase the harmony & tranquility of nature, designed with tender loving care by Henry Francis, who was involved in all the details.
Henry Algernon du Pont was celebrated as a brilliant military strategist, a canny businessman & politician, servind two terms as a U.S. senator, representing his beloved Delaware. His son also served his nation, although taking a different direction. Where his father was master of military, business & political tactics, Henry Francis excelled at horticulture & landscape design. Both men left unforgettable legacies - the father, an exceptional war record; the son, the stunning beauty & peaceful grounds of a place that is splendid at any season of the year, their ancestral home, Winterthur.
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