Winterthur Museum and Country Estate , DE - Wilmington, Delaware Diverse Museum and Gardens on du Pont Estate Just Outside Largest Delaware City

The Winterthur Museum and Country Estate, DE, is located between Greenville and Centerville at 5105 Kennett Pike (Route 52) just across from the Delaware Museum of Natural History.

Winterthur was constructed as the home to Henry Francis du Pont, who designed the estate together with his father Henry Algernon du Pont, in the early 19th Century. They designed the mansion combining styles from 18th and 19th Century European country homes.

Inside the mansion, more than 85,000 antiques, furnishings and artwork make up the collection of this museum today. The items range in date from as early as 1640 up through 1860.

More than 175 period rooms with its own pieces were created by Henry Francis du Pont himself after the passing of his father, in order to "show America as it had been'' in different moments over time.

Some sections of the Winterthur Museum and Country Estate, DE, are used as gallery style exhibition spaces displaying part from the always expanding permanent collection as well as traveling exhibits. These galleries include a ceramics and glass showcase, a metal works gallery, textiles and needlework as well as a paintings and prints.

Replicas were also created here of clock making and crafts workshop that recreate the environment and tools used by American hand craftsmen.

There area special activities for children here that include touchable interactive items in the galleries and a room to touch history for children. There is also a special menu for children in the restaurant on the site.

The Enchanted Woods on the grounds have been especially designed for play in a fairy tale world and there is also a children's garden among the gardens on the estate.

At the Winterthur Museum and Country Estate, DE, much of the horticultural artistry that H.F du Pont designed himself has been maintained and expanded upon. It stretches across the 982 acre property of the estate. Streams, forests, rolling hills and meadows can be explored on a visit. The Estate is now less than half of its original size. There is an on site post office as well as fire station.

A series of special events from breakfasts in the gardens to talks on history and special children's activities are all held at the estate and museum.

Regarding education, the museum offers fellowships and study programs for college credit as well as an extensive research library for scholarly investigation.

Intensive two week study courses are also held by the Winterthur Institute examining period rooms and artifacts that are part of the museum.

It was Henry F. du Pont himself that established the museum in 1954, shortly before his death. He continued to live here in a small cottage once the museum opened.