Longwood Gardens - Part 1
Longwood Gardens - Part 2
Longwood Gardens - Part 3
Longwood Gardens - Part 4Longwood Gardens - Part 5
Longwood Gardens - Part 6
Longwood Gardens - Part 7
Longwood Gardens - Part 8
Wintertour Gardens - Part 9
Interior of Winterthur - Part 10
Replica of Winterthur - Part 11
Winterthur Soup Tureens - Part 12
Heh.
Within minutes of my posting this,
XKT called to let me know of my faux pas.
Actually she e'd me first with
the subject "foe neh tic,"
but since I had chided her on using email
instead of an immediate phone call
when she sees where I've screwed up,
she followed up with the phone.
If you notice in one of the links above,
I spelled Winterthur wrong.
I spelled it Wintertour,
the way it is pronounced.
My bad.
But since it's a funny story,
(XKT wasn't sure whether or not
I was messin' with her by spelling it that way.
No, I wasn't.
But I wish I had told her I was.)
I'm leaving it the way it is.
Don't ask me why there's a space between Parts 4 and 5
or why Part 11 is a different color.
Blogger works in mysterious, and sometimes, confounding, ways.
Nemours Mansion and Gardens,
in Wilmington, Delaware.
Nemours is a cute little modified Louis XVI chateau
built in 1909-1910 by Alfred I. du Pont.
The 47,000 square foot, 5-floor, 77-room mansion contains
an eclectic collection of rare furniture,
great art, European antiques,
tapestries, Oriental rugs, and paintings,
as well as several of A.I. du Pont's innovations.
Guided tours are at 9 AM, 12, and 3 PM.
Make reservations.
When Alfred du Pont married his second wife, Alicia,
in 1907, he loved showering her with gifts.
By far the grandest of these
was the spectacular house he built for her
on a 3000 acre plot of land in Wilmington.
He hired Carrere and Hastings,
a prestigious New York architectural firm,
to design the mansion in the late 19th century
French style that Alicia loved.
He named the estate Nemours,
after the French town that his great-great-grandfather
represented in the French Estates General.
While looking to the past and his ancestors for inspiration,
Alfred also ensured that his new home was
thoroughly modern by incorporating the latest technology
and many of his own inventions.
Our driver, Liz, whom I think would make
a darn good drinking partner,
is making time with the bus
so's I can't get a decent picture of the wall.
She tells us the story of the wall
surrounding Lemours Mansion.
If you click on the wall pic and squint
you just might see the shards of glass embedded in the top
This is to dissuade entry.
Squint real hard.
Our bus deposits us at the gates of Nemours.
Real gold there.
These gates were originally used at Wimbledon Manor
outside London.
They date to the 18th century.
We are ready for our guided tour.
We are called out and divided into small groups,
to experience Nemours as a visitor might have.
Upon entry,
we were each given a carnation.
Our history interpreter was one of the best I've had
the opportunity to listen to.
I love it when I see someone doing something
which they obviously love
and doing it well.
NO PICS inside!
pfffffffttttt
But you can take a virtual tour of Nemours.
Some of the highlights:
a clock commissioned by Marie Antoinette
a chair from Mount Vernon
a chair from the coronation of King George VI
hand painted Meissen jars
Lalique crystal
carved alabaster
Ebony and Ivory birdbath
with carvings given by Louis XVI
1st Century Greco-Roman tear vase
(When the tears evaporate,
the official mourning period is over.)
Signed Tiffany peacock vase
17th century Lourdes tapestry
Limoges china
18th century Italian leather screens
Dining room chandelier from Marie Antoinette
16th century works of art in library
Chandelier from the Marquis de Lafayette
18th century tapestries
18th century French roll top desk with inlaid
mahogany, rosewood, and tulipwood
Hand-blown Murano glass chandelier
The two marble sphinxes at the entrance
were given by Louis XIV to his finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert.
There are two elks at the top of the Vista,
the work of French sculptor Prosper Lecourtier (1855-1924),
a specialist in animal figures.
The 157 jets at the center of the one-acre pool
shoot water 12 feet high into the air.
When they are turned off,
the entire "long Walk"
is reflected in the pool.
The pool is five and a half feet deep
in its deepest section
and holds 800,000 gallons of water
and takes three days to fill.
The Art Nouveau style,
classical mythology-based, carerra marble "Four Seasons"
around the pool are by French-born
American sculptor Henri Crenier (1874-1848.)
Travertine walls surround the pool.
Achievement was designed by French sculptor Henri Crenier.
It looms over the maze garden on an elevated marble vase pedestal.
The pink marble urns are from the Hapsburgs
of Vienna.
They are from one of the many palaces of the
Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz-Joseph,
which is appropriate as the Colonnade itself
is reminiscent of the Gloriette at Schonbrunn Palace
outside Vienna.
The colonnade was built as a memorial
to Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
and his son Eleuthere Irenee du Pont.
The Colonnade is constructed of brick faced with
Indiana limestone.
At the end of the Vista
is the classically-styled Temple of Love
by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon
with a statue of Diana.
The classically styled temple is the setting for
a statue of Diana the Huntress
cast by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828).
The cannon is a reproduction of the cannon
from the U.S.S. Constitution - "Old Ironsides,"
the frigate that famously took part in the War of 1812
and other conflicts.
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