Step Into the Past: The Treasures of Winterthur!

Lesson Plan - Get It!

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At Winterthur, marvel at elegant chandeliers hanging from ceilings and wander through rooms adorned with handmade quilts and rocking chairs. You'll uncover a treasure trove of art and history.

The museum is surrounded by beautiful gardens and stunning landscapes that are a delight to explore in any season.

Meet Winterthur

Winterthur, pronounced winter-tour, was once the grand home of Henry Francis du Pont, a man who had a deep love for art and nature.

He collected furniture, paintings, dishes, and carpets, some over 400 years old! In 1951, he transformed his home into a museum to share these treasures and teach people about the past.

• When did Henry Francis du Pont open his home as a museum?

Discover the Museum

Open the door to Winterthur, where each room showcases how Americans lived, worked, and celebrated in the past.

Colorful quilts tell vivid family stories, from weddings to welcoming new babies. Intricate desks from long ago have secret compartments where families stored letters and sketched ideas.

You can even find hand-painted porcelain plates that wealthy families used to display their style.

Imagine walking through a house where every room tells a different story.

• What would your favorite room look like?

Wander the Gardens

Stroll in the magical gardens at Winterthur, where you'll find vibrant flowers in the spring, lush green grass in the summer, and fiery orange leaves in the fall.

Even in winter, the frosty grass and bare branches transform the landscape into a dazzling wonderland.

Henry Francis du Pont designed the landscape to be beautiful all year long! Walk along scenic trails or hop on the tram.

If you're quiet, you might spot frogs hopping in ponds or chipmunks scurrying around.

Step into the Enchanted Woods, a whimsical garden where imagination and nature come together. Discover a Faerie Cottage with tiny windows, magical troll bridges, and a giant bird's nest to climb into.

Play hide and seek in the Tulip Tree House built from a tree trunk!

Take a virtual tour of the Enchanted Children's Garden with the following video.

Preserving the Past

Henry Francis du Pont didn't just collect things for fun; he believed in preservation. Preservation means saving and caring for special objects and nature so people can enjoy them in the future.

Winterthur's museum and gardens are filled with treasures that tell stories about how people lived long ago. Without preservation, these stories could be lost forever.

Artists, designers, and scientists study old objects to understand the past and inspire the future. A designer today might create something new after being inspired by the porcelain at Winterthur.

Imagine if one of your favorite toys ended up in a museum 100 years from now.

• How would it tell others about what life is like today?

Now that you've explored Winterthur, see what you remember in the Got it? section!