Winterthur Museum & Gardens

Not every home could fit a large scale museum and grounds, but 96, 582 square feet of space will more than do. Like it’s cousins, the Biltmore in North Carolina, or the Arden House in New York, the Winterthur Estate is one of the great historic “palaces” of the American aristocracy. Built on lands tracing ownership all the way back to Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, his descendent, H. F. du Pont, would ambitiously lead the creation of one of the country’s grandest homes. Containing vibrant gardens, the largest collection of American decorative arts, and a famous unfinished painting, there’s something for everyone on this vast historic estate—even if you have udders.

While the family business was in gunpowder, from an early age the quiet Henry Francis Du Pont was more interested in nature and the arts (his best grade at Harvard was a B- in a garden study course). Inheriting the family Winterthur home, H.F. would passionately transform it over the next 70 years into a hortoculturist haven. Embracing the philosophy of a “wild garden,” he would create over sixty acres of vistas, woodland trees, and hardy exotic flowers. It was almost as if he was as interested in the fields and wildlife as his other great passion: cows.

Along with his gardening work,  H.F. brought a foundational herd of Holstein Freisan cattle to the estate, beginning to breed them in 1917. By the 1926, there were over 300 cows on the grounds, producing around 11,000 pounds of milk per animal. Up until du Pont’s death in 1969, the Holsteins were a welcome sight at Winterthur, and became well known as one of the best diary herds in the country.

Not busy enough with dairy farming and gardening, the hardwowrking H.F. enlarged the main home building from 30 rooms to a whopping 175! Filling it with salvaged pieces and rooms from historic homes in the area and antique furniture, he would also purchase paintings to fill the space such as Benjamin West’s The Treaty of Paris. Originally intended as a gift to Congress, the painting is famously unfinished, as British officials refused to sit for a painting depicting their official surrender to their rebellious American colonies. This painting is one of 90,000 objects on display in the museum, making it the premier collection of American decorative arts in the world.

Entering the Winterthur Museum and Gardens today is getting an inside look into one man’s great project, building the fifth largest mansion and grounds in the country in his lifetime. Open to the public since 1951, there are unfortunately no longer cows at the museum, but their are plenty of spaces for grazing.