In the 1920's DuPont really ramped up his collection activities. He focused on collecting American furniture, art and decorative objects. To accommodate his passion he had to enlarge Winterthur adding elements of other American homes in the process. For instance he bought a fantastic staircase from a house in North Carolina and added to a new wing. In this manner he collected and preserved ceilings, walls, mantle pieces and much more. Eventually the house grew to 175 rooms. His passion was so great and his reputation was such that he was invited by Jacqueline Kennedy to head up the committee that was in charge of renovating the Whitehouse.
A grand entrance
Carved wooden eagle
Cawww!
The staircase from North Crolina
We had his craftsmen mimic the style and build more stairs up several more floors
Each room highlighted a specific style or period of American History
No expense was spared
George Washington's china set
With the GW logo
The impressive wallpaper adds to the drama
I really liked the ice chest
GW himself
Still some room to get around the objects
It is George time
Great Native American portraits
Nalal battles
The table is set!
Not dinner time yet
No need to search far for flowers to add to the bouquet
This spectacular urn had a suprise
It opens up to reveal that it is a storage piece for knives
Such craftsmanship
The wood working skills blew me away
Some birdwatching opportunities
It looks quite comfortable
Time to pop into the gift shop
A huge variety of items
Good thing I wa snot buying
In a different wing we find a folding chair
Jugs specially designed to keep the mouth away from the drinking spout
A very unique parlor stove with extra area to radiate heat from the 1880's
A nice ceramic piece
An x-ray to show the inner supports
Arsenic was used to get this green color
Arsenic was also used ion early taxidermy
More birdwatching
Woof!
More fish please
One serious gate
Jugs as portraiture
I am seeing a theme here, George Washington
Unpacking a classic chest of drawers
This exhibit really showed us the nuts and bolts of making machines out of wooden parts
More machinery for cutting gears to use in clocks
This is an extraordinary piece. It is made of mahogany, whalebone, brass and copper. It is a swift used in textile manufacturing
Time for lunch
They had surprisingly good food
