Winterthur Museum and Garden

Henry Francis du Pont collected American furniture and decorative arts from the 1920s at a time when European objects were what wealthy Americans bought, and he did it by the room: buying whole panelled interiors out of houses being demolished and installing them, then furnishing each to a period and region. The result is about a hundred and seventy-five rooms holding some ninety thousand objects made or used in America between 1640 and 1860. He and his wife Ruth tripled the size of the house to hold them. The estate also carries a naturalistic garden of about sixty acres, planted for a long succession of bloom, and a research library that trains conservators through a joint programme with the University of Delaware.

What's there

• About 175 period rooms - many installed as whole salvaged interiors.
• Some ninety thousand American objects - from 1640 to 1860.
• A naturalistic garden - planted for successive bloom.
• A conservation training programme - run with the university.

When to go

April to October for the garden; the house is open year round. Half a day.

What to expect

The house is by guided tour and the standard tour covers only a fraction of the rooms. Deeper tours cost more and book ahead. The garden is at its best in a narrow spring window. A car is necessary.

Nearby

Longwood Gardens is north; Wilmington is south-east.

Key facts