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1839 established. Entered by Pavilion Dr., off Kennett Pike (DE 52)

The world's foremost museum of American decorative arts, Winterthur is a monument to the collecting talents of Henry Francis du Pont (1880–1969). In the early nineteenth century, James A. and Evelina du Pont Bidermann named this property, then 445 acres, “Winterthur” after an ancestral village in Switzerland. They built their home at the end of a mile-long driveway. Henry Francis's grandfather, “Boss Henry” du Pont, later bought the estate. The Boss's son, Civil War hero Colonel Henry Algernon du Pont, expanded the house, and Henry Francis continued that process. Some 220,000 visitors tour the collections annually and explore the sprawling grounds.

Writing Credits

W. Barksdale Maynard


What's Nearby


W. Barksdale Maynard, "Winterthur", [Wilmington, Delaware], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—,

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Delaware

Buildings of Delaware, W. Barksdale Maynard. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008, 60-60.



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