by After our previous tour of Winterthur, which is a self-guided stroll through just a handful of rooms on the first floor, we decided to go back for the “More to Explore Tour.” We’re here to tell you, this “house” is something else.
The bulk of the house was built in 1927 by Henry Francis du Pont (1880–1969), and has 175 rooms (not a typo). Obviously our 75-minute extended tour means we still have not seen anywhere close to most of the house. But what there is truly mind-boggling.
Du Pont was really interested in collecting, and boy did he. Not just the objects that go in a home, but large structural elements of homes – staircases, fireplaces, entire rooms were relocated into Winterthur. Often these were salvage operations from homes being torn down, but du Pont was not above asking to buy something that caught his fancy from a home he visited.
The rooms are themed by time period, and it truly feels like walking through a museum, when it was in fact their home. There are upwards of 90,000 objects on display throughout the home, primarily dating from 1640 to 1860. Imagine having so much pottery to display that you simply set up fake storefronts (such as in the cover photo to this post) as a way of presenting it in your home. Imagine having the space to set up fake storefronts in your home.
Du Pont had significant collections (numbering in the many thousands) of textiles; metalworks; silver; glass; paintings, prints and maps; furniture; and ceramics. The rooms are very richly decorated, with incredible attention to detail paid on the room arrangement and representation. Winterthur’s American furniture collection is the largest and one of the best in the country.
Incredibly, du Pont would change the look of his rooms seasonally, swapping out curtains and slipcovers. Many items were marked with labels identifying which quarter they were to be used. That’s right – every three months the rooms were refreshed! China settings – of course, he owned 58 sets – were selected to match the seasonal flowers on display in the room.
…my father alone was in charge of the dining room, and he approached it as if he were designing a stage set. His materials—flowers, china, linen—were assembled days in advance, the availability of flowers determining the other choices. Three or four days before a house party a gardener would bring him samples of outdoor or greenhouse flowers that could be counted on to be blooming that weekend. (A flower to be used on the table was not to be seen “anywhere else in the house that day.”) In the huge china closet, whose shelves were loaded with stacks of dishes, a footman would climb a ladder and perilously hand down several centerpieces and matching plates. My father and the butler would then decide on the combination of china, glass, and linen that would best complement the flowers….Guests were not permitted to see the room before 8:30, when—with the butler’s announcement of dinner—the curtain went up.
Ruth du Pont Lord writing in Henry F. du Pont and Winterthur: A Daughter’s Portrait (1999).
