winterthur museum and gardens - part 1

last summer, we visited nemours mansion and gardens (the home of alfred dupont) in delaware with my parents.  we really enjoyed touring the elaborate mansion and strolling through the beautiful gardens.  my mom heard that there was another dupont mansion right by nemours, and we have been curious to check it out ever since.

on sunday, we took a trip back to delaware with my parents to see winterthur museum and gardens.  winterthur was the home of henry francis dupont.  like nemours, winterhur is also open to the public for tours.  we took a tram ride through the property, toured part of the 175-room mansion, and then strolled through the expansive grounds.

the weather held out for us, and it turned out to be a really pretty fall day in delaware.  here some pictures from our visit to winterthur . . .

^it's really hard to comprehend a 9 story, 175-room home.  in fact, it was so big, that we couldn't even find a vantage point outside from which we could see the entire building.  i really loved the roof lines and the dormer windows though.^

^this stair case was truly breathtaking.  it actually wasn't the original stair case.  the original was made of marble.  henry francis dupont was traveling and saw this stair case in another home and he had it removed from that home and put in his home.  i can't even imagine how someone goes about moving a staircase like that!^

^among the collection of china in the house was the china set off which george washington ate when he was in the white house.  that was pretty mind blowing.^

^part of the museum features a collection of campbell soup tureens.  i have never seen so many soup tureens or such elaborate soup tureens in my life!^

^found this handsome fella on the porch overlooking the grounds^

^oh, i'm telling you, those dormer windows were really gorgeous!^

^most of the property looked like a movie set.  it was so detailed and elaborate.  somehow i can just imagine a girl in a beautiful long gown descending those stairs for a fairy tale story.  it's no surprise that the property is a popular spot for weddings.  the tram driver said that there were three weddings there this weekend!^

love, laurie