Edward Hicks's "Peaceable
Kingdom" can be seen in the Walter J. Laird, Jr,
Gallery.
Life at
Winterthur:
By Pauline K. Eversmann
WINTERTHUR, DEL. - On September 1, Winterthur continued its
celebration of its 50th anniversary with the opening of a new
exhibition, "Life at Winterthur: Henry Francis du Pont's Country
Estate." The show explores Winterthur's history as a great
American country estate between 1902 and 1951.
What are country estates and why did the du Ponts seek to create
one? Since the 1500s in Western Europe, country estates
represented seats of power. As self-sustaining agricultural
enterprises, they provided their owners with an economic base as
well as political, social and cultural authority.
The change from an agricultural to an industrial economy in the
1800s paralleled a change in the country estate tradition as
well. Wealthy industrialists, particularly in England, began to
build country houses as symbolic representations of power,
using them as weekend retreats rather than sources of power or
income. As Americans grew increasingly wealthy, they, too,
enthusiastically adopted this country-house tradition.
Since 1839, members of the du Pont family resided at Winterthur.
Over a period of years, the original three-story, 12-room Greek
Revival manor house underwent alternations to meet the changing
needs of its new owner.
In 1901, Henry Algernon du Pont, the then-owner of Winterthur,
and his wife, Pauline, undertook a large expansion of the
original 1839 Winterthur manor house, adding an imposing marble
stair hall, a billiard room and a large library, all requisite
entertaining spaces in a proper country estate.
This 1940 photograph features Ruth Wales du Pont with Pauline
du Pont Harrison holding Alison Louise Harrison.
Before the addition was finished, however, Pauline du Pont died
in 1902 and the job of household manager fell to her only son,
Henry Francis du Pont, who returned to Winterthur in 1903 after
his graduation from Harvard College. The younger du Pont, who, up
until that time had shown a serious lack of ability in the many
fields at which his father excelled (academics, sports, business
and history), proved to have a real aptitude for management.
Within a short period, he was overseeing not only the furnishing
of the newly enlarged house, but also the planting of new garden
areas. To both of these areas he brought a talent for detail,
decision making and, most importantly for future endeavors,
aesthetics. He personally oversaw the selection of just the right
fabric for the drawing room curtains and the perfect color mix of
bulbs to be planted in his "wild garden" of spring bulbs.
In 1914, in recognition of these considerable talents, Henry
Francis was named manager of the Winterthur farm by his father.
He immediately set about reorganizing the agricultural landscape,
converting the many small tenant farms on the estate to specialty
farms and developing a superior strain of Holstein-Friesian dairy
cattle. At the same time, he continued to expand the garden areas
around the house, oversaw a never-ending series of country-house
weekends, and perhaps most significantly, began to collect
American antiques.
In 1923, H.F. du Pont and his wife, Ruth, headed north to
Shelburne, Vt., to visit the dairy operation of J. Watson Webb.
While there, he was invited to visit the home of the Webbs' son
and daughter-in-law, Seward and Electra Havermeyer Webb. Years
afterward, du Pont described this social call and its impact on
him: "We were staying at the house of Mrs Webb in Shelburne,
Vermont, and Mrs Webb said, 'Would you like to see Electra's
house [Electra was her daughter-in-law]? She has fixed over an
old farmhouse.' So I went to see this very attractive, old brick
house and I was looking at the furniture. I hadn't thought a
thing of American furniture at all. I went upstairs and saw this
dresser - this pine dresser, and I thought it was charming, quite
lovely. It just took my breath away. I had never seen pine
furniture, or heard of it in fact..."
From Shelburne, the du Ponts continued eastward to Massachusetts
and du Pont continued his narrative of the journey: "...and then
we went to stay with my sister, Louise Crowninshield in
Marblehead and then we went to see the house of Harry Sleeper in
Gloucester, Massachusetts, which was very attractively arranged,
so I said to my wife, 'Why don't we build an American house?
Everybody has English houses and half the furniture I know they
have it new. Since we're Americans, it's much more interesting to
have American furniture.'"
The following Sunday, du Pont, a devout Episcopalian, skipped
church and went antiquing in nearby Chester County, Penn. He
purchased a 1730 chest of drawers, an object subsequently viewed
as the "first" American antique in du Pont's collection. Although
further research has shown that du Pont had occasionally
purchased American furniture prior to 1923, this chest does
represent the beginnings of his deliberate collection of
Americana.
Bitten by the collecting bug, du Pont began to acquire American
furniture and decorative objects made or used in America for his
summer home, Chestertown, in Southampton, Long Island, N.Y.
Largely self-educated in antiques, he relied on the advice of
dealers as well as his own superb ability to recognize beauty.
An innate sense of proportion, form, color, and line came
naturally to du Pont. In later life, he attributed his fine eye
to having grown up with flowers and to having "absorbed an
appreciation of proportion, color and material." The latter
statement was a tribute to his beloved mother, who had taken
young Harry and his sister into the Winterthur garden and taught
them to love flowers.
Henry Algernon du Pont died on New Year's eve in 1926. The very
next day, his son inscribed his own name in the Winterthur guest
book, thus signaling his ownership of his beloved Winterthur. He
immediately began to plan for a large expansion of his father's
house, to better accommodate his growing collection of American
antiques.
The addition, a two-room-deep wing added down the back of the
existing house, more than tripled its size. Over the next four
years, du Pont filled the addition with "period rooms" outfitted
with historic architecture and furnished with American antiques.
The result was nothing short of stunning.
The Walpole Society, an elite group of collectors of whom du Pont
was one, held their annual meeting at Winterthur in 1932. The
minutes from the meeting reflect their appreciation for du Pont's
achievement: "No collection has ever been made comparable with
the variety and beauty."
Building and furnishing a large addition was only one of du
Pont's endeavors during the years between 1927 and 1932. At the
same time as he was overseeing the addition to the house and
adding to his collection, he was also working with landscape
architect, Marion Coffin, to redevelop the Winterthur garden.
Coffin, a friend of du Pont and his sister Louise, was a perfect
complement to du Pont and his tastes.
She supplied the design ideas; he selected the plants. The two
exchanged letters regularly as they plotted and planned the
formal areas around the new addition. Once, leaving the design
arena temporarily, Coffin advised du Pont to select a "White
Willow (salix alba) by the pond instead of weeping? Why
must a willow weep?"
Assembling a large collection of decorative arts, overseeing a
large building project and actively supervising the design and
planting of new garden areas were not du Pont's main focus during
these years, however. That honor fell to the development of his
prize-wining breed of Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle. Under du
Pont's careful supervision, the Winterthur herd became one of the
most famous in the nation.
Year after year it won numerous honors for producing
Holstein-Friesians with a high butterfat content, that era's
standard of excellence. In perfecting the herd, du Pont relied on
the same attention to detail and continual experimentation that
marked his collecting and gardening endeavors.
After studying the available research, du Pont began a systematic
breeding program that involved the purchase of proven Holstein
sires and the inbreeding of the best cows and bulls. This
approach to breeding continually produced results that broke
records in the registry of the Holstein-Friesian Association of
America.
As busy as Winterthur was during the week, it truly came alive on
weekends when a seemingly endless succession of guests poured
onto the estate to enjoy Winterthur's fabled country house
weekends. Both Henry Francis and Ruth loved to entertain and with
its house and grounds, particularly the garden, Winterthur was
the perfect venue.
A frequent weekend guest to Winterthur once described a typical
country house weekend: "You'd arrive, probably around teatime,
and there would be Ruth, behind the tea table, and you'd be
having tea, and you'd probably play bridge before dinner, and
certainly play bridge after dinner." She then went on to note
that she frequently lost her way in the evening trying to find
her way back to her bedroom.
Weekend activities included inside sports such as bowling,
squash, billiards and bridge. Outside, tennis and croquet were
played on courts in the garden and swimming was available in a
pool at the foot of the formal garden. Harry du Pont loved golf
and guests were invited to play on Winterthur's own golf course.
To add to the ambience, he had speakers installed on the course
through which opera was broadcast on Saturday afternoons.
Needless to say, du Pont did not accomplish all of these many
achievements unaided. Rather, he was assisted by a large and
devoted staff, many of whom were born and raised at Winterthur.
In the years between the two World Wars, more than 250 people
lived, worked and played at Winterthur. House servants,
gardeners, farmers, dairymen and chauffeurs together formed the
heart and soul of the Winterthur community.
In preparation for the anniversary exhibition, team members
conducted oral histories with current and former staff who had
grown up at Winterthur when it was still a country estate. Their
warm memories of growing up at Winterthur, as well as their
affection for "H.F.," were tape-recorded and can be heard at
audio stations throughout the exhibition.
For Winterthur employees, life on the estate involved much more
than work. The grounds were totally accessible to families and
they enjoyed sledding and ice skating on the ponds in the winter,
fishing in the summer, and bike riding or hiking all year round.
In addition, there were organized activities such as the
Winterthur baseball team, dances in the community club house and,
at Christmas, a lavish party hosted by the du Ponts for all
employees, known informally as "Mr Harry's party."
Shortly after he began collecting American decorative arts in
earnest, du Pont began to explore the idea of having his
collection become a museum. At first he thought that his home on
Long Island, Chestertown, would be the ideal location. He soon
realized, however, that Winterthur was his true legacy. As early
as 1938, he wrote to a colleague saying, "This [Winterthur] may
be a museum some day."
Henry Francis and Ruth Wales du Pont.
At first he envisioned Winterthur becoming a museum after his
death. At some point, however, he changed his mind and began to
plan to open his home as a museum during his lifetime. He later
wrote, "One day I got to thinking, if I want a museum here I
ought to see the job through myself. Besides, I suspected there
would be some fun connected with it, and I wanted to be in on
it."
On October 30, 1951, Winterthur officially opened at the Henry
Francis du Pont Museum. The du Ponts moved into a new house built
within view of their former home. From his bedroom window, du
Pont could look up the hill to the dairy barns on Farm Hill, down
the slope to naturalized plantings of daffodils along a nearby
stream and over to his family home, now a museum. Thus, all three
of his consuming interests were clearly in view.
Once the house became a museum, du Pont lessened his involvement
in its day-to-day operations. He remained, however, until his
death in 1969, the "head gardener" and continued to list his
occupation as "farmer" on applications and formal documents.
An intensely private individual, du Pont refused all public
speaking engagements and rarely gave interviews. He preferred to
let his achievements speak for themselves. Thus, it is not
surprising that he was able to sum up his feelings for his
lifelong home in a very few words. "I was born at Winterthur," he
told an interviewer, "and have always loved everything connected
with it."
Years after his death, his daughters more fully expressed the
same sentiment. "Henry Francis du loved Winterthur. It was his
achievement, his birthplace, his home and the place where he
died. His enthusiasm for the house, the museum, and the land
speaks to us still."
Pauline K. Eversmann is deputy director for public programs
department and curator of the "Life at Winterthur" exhibition.
"Life at Winterthur" runs through May 5, 2002 at the Walter J.
Laird, Jr. Gallery. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 5
pm, and Sunday, noon to 5 pm. For information, 800-448-3883.
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