Monday, June 24, 2019

Winterthur, Delaware

For my mom's birthday earlier this year, we promised her a trip to Winterthur, a house museum and garden in Delaware, to see the Costuming The Crown exhibit and walk through the gardens.  We had been there a few years prior to see the Downton Abbey costume exhibit, so we were excited to return, and a couple weeks ago, we visited on a perfect Saturday.


Winterthur is the 175-room former home of Henry Francis du Pont; for more information about the estate, click here.

We purchased timed tickets to take the house tour.  Small groups are led through a portion of the house every half hour.  The house is deceptively large; it was built in stages over generations, finally ending with 175 rooms over several stories.  Since you only see a small portion of the house, it's kind of hard to gauge how big it actually is, but it is sprawling and cleverly built into the terrain - at one point, you're on the fifth floor, but can walk out a door onto a lawn.

 


After we finished the house tour, we went over to the Costuming The Crown exhibit in one of the wings.  We've all watched and loved the show, so it was really neat to the see actual costumes the actors wore, oftentimes next to the real-life pictures that served as inspiration.  My niece loved seeing all the pretty dresses!



After the exhibit, we wandered out into the gardens, starting at the reflecting pool.  From here, you can kind of see the scale of the house!


Next we went to the Enchanted Forest section of the gardens; my niece loved this area and didn't want to leave, especially because she could have a tea party with grandma there!




After lunch, we took a tram ride around the perimeter of the garden; I love this part of the tour because you can see all different parts of the grounds; the guide talks about different plants and trees and also what the land was historically  used for in various sections (for example, there used to be a dairy on the property).  You can also walk the many paths through the garden.




We really enjoyed our second trip to Winterthur; I would highly recommend if you're ever in the area that you make it a point to stop there!

24 comments:

  1. Wow! This place is beautiful and the costumes just make the trip even better.

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    1. Yes! While we really wanted to see the costumes, the whole place is a draw in itself.

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  2. I love this place! We just joined as members this year, so I hope to visit more often. I found out that the different tours of the house change and you can request different tours. I wanted to see the library and was bummed we couldn't, but there was another tour that day that was different and was going through the library and various other parts of the house! I want to try and do that next time. I also hear it's gorgeous at Christmas! I'm so glad you made it back and were able to see The Crown exhibit!

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    1. Oh, that's awesome!! I didn't know there were different tours, that would be fun to go back and do!

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  3. I love this! So beautiful and certainly a place I would enjoy visiting and walking through. Thanks for sharing it with us!

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  4. Wow, 175 rooms? I hope the owners had a staff to clean that place. By the time you finished dusting all of those rooms, you’d have to start over again. The house is beautiful, though!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Haha, right?? Must have taken an army of people!

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  5. I love it there - it's so beautiful and I can't wait to go back!

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  6. What a beautiful place. Thanks for the tour!

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  7. Ahh what a beautiful place, I love your pictures so much and wow this staircase, I'm a little obsessed with how good it looks haha, I love it :)
    Thank you for sharing your adventures with us! :D

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    1. Haha, the tour guide was really talking up that staircase!

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  8. This looks like a beautiful place! Not sure what I'd love more, the beautiful rooms or the gorgeous garden. The pretty dresses is like the cherry on top :) Thanks for sharing these pictures, looks like an amazing way to spend a Saturday indeed.

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  9. 175 rooms? Wow! This looks like such a beautiful place to visit. I've not yet watched The Crown but those costumes are stunning!

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    1. It really is, and so much better in person!

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  11. Oh wow- what a beautiful area. 175 rooms! Wow. and I love how that fifth floor area opens onto a lawn. Must be fascinating to wander through if you could. Love that Enchanted Forest house too- looks like something from The Hobbit or another age!

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    1. My niece loved the Enchanted Forest section, so much to see and do!

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  12. This is all amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing photos! <3

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  13. OMG, I want to go to Delaware just to see these dresses. They are amazing and the gardens. so beautiful. Thank you for the amazing pictures. I can't believe how many rooms 175, wow.

    Mary

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!