[00:04.49]It is spring ... a time of year when many Americans like to visit historic homes and gardens.
[00:10.84]One such place in the eastern state of Delaware is also a museum of early American arts.
[00:17.42]It is a more than 390-hectare property called "winterthur'.
[00:23.14]Steve Ember has more.
[00:25.34]Winterthur was a working farm for 150 years before it was opened to the public.
[00:33.33]Frenchman Eleuthere Irenee du Pont bought the first 182 hectares of land in the early 1800s.
[00:41.33]His daughter Evelina and her husband Jacques Biderman built the house in 1839.
[00:47.93]They named it after his family home in Switzerland.
[00:51.46]Henry Francis du Pont became the owner of the property in 1926.
[00:57.39]He collected American furniture and art made in the United States before 1860.
[01:04.24]He began adding rooms to the house so that he could show what he had bought.
[01:09.85]Mister du Pont supervised the farms on the property
[01:13.61]and developed an art and history research library too.
[01:18.03]He also created and improved garden areas around the house.
[01:23.67]He opened the house and grounds to the public in 1951.
[01:29.34]Henry Francis du Pont died in 1969.
[01:34.15]He left the house,garden and library for the public to enjoy.
[01:39.84]About 200,000people visit each year,
[01:43.71]Today, the art and furniture he collected can be seen in some of the 175 rooms in Winterthur.
[01:52.69]Visitors see examples of early American furniture, rugs, wallhangings, dishes and silver.
[02:00.63]Silver drinking mugs made by the famous colonial citizen, Paul Revere,
[02:05.75]and dinner plates owned by George Washington are part of the collection.
[02:11.34]Outside, visitors enjoy beautiful gardens of flowers and plants.
[02:17.04]They can walk through the flower gardens or ride around them in a bus-like vehicle.
[02:23.60]Winterthur also holds special events on holidays like an Easter egg hunt in the spring,
[02:30.78]and Christmas tours in the winter. |