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Yuletide at Winterthur and Longwood Gardens

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Yuletide at Winterthur (Courtesy of Winterthur)

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Splendid architecture and decorative arts, glorious gardens, and spectacular holiday decorations indoors and out are just some of the reasons why visits to two of the Brandywine Valley’s favorite destinations offer an ideal way to spend a December day.

Begin with a Yuletide house tour at Winterthur, the lavish Henry Francis duPont estate near Wilmington, Delaware. An array of bedrooms, parlors, dining rooms, and drawing rooms are decorated for the season, with elaborate trees and trimmings set against the house’s period furnishings and extensive collection of fine and decorative arts.

After lunch in the Winterthur cafeteria, join a curator for a brief introduction to the blockbuster exhibition of costumes created for “The Crown,” followed by some free time to explore on your own.

An evening visit to nearby Longwood Gardens offers time on your own to relax, wander the grounds, and take in the spectacular seasonal decorations. The famed holiday garden light display features hundreds of sparkling snowflakes, twinkling tree forms, and illuminated fountains.

Architecture and urban studies specialist Bill Keene , a frequent Smithsonian Associates tour leader, is your guide. Lunch is included at Winterthur; free time is allotted at Longwood Gardens for dinner on your own.

Fringe stop at about 8:25 a.m.

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A Winterthur Yuletide

Enjoy a delicious lunch at the Mendenhall Inn, tour Winterthur, and drive through Herr's annual spectacular Christmas lights display.

• Detailed Overview
• Tour Itinerary
• Pick-up Points
• Departure Dates

Winterthur (pronounced “winter-tour”) is the premier museum of American decorative arts, with an unparalleled collection of nearly 90,000 objects made or used in America between about 1640 and 1860. The collection is displayed in the magnificent 175-room house, much as it was when the du Pont family lived there, as well as in permanent and changing exhibition galleries.

Tour Includes

Transportation

Lunch at the Mendenhall Inn

Winterthur Museum

Winterthur Yuletide Tour

Herr's Christmas Lights Display

Requires Extended Amounts of Walking

Our holiday experience begins with lunch at the award winning Mendenhall Inn which stands alone as one of the great destinations in the Brandywine Valley. After our lunch, be ready to experience Christmas at Winterthur; a visit that will provide one of the Brandywine Valley's most spectacular holiday showcases! Yuletide at Winterthur embraces the warmth and festivity of the season with a magnificent holiday tour of Henry Francis du Pont's mansion as well as breathtaking trees glittering with ornaments, dazzling room displays, a magical dollhouse, and the opportunity to shop and create new memories. After experiencing the magic that is Winterthur, we're off for another Christmas experience; the spectacular holiday light display at Herr's Snack Factory where guests will see decorated trees, shrubs, and even some reindeer.

Timed Itinerary

11:30 AM Approximate arrival at Mendenhall Inn 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Lunch at Mendenhall Inn 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM Free time at Winterthur* 4:00 PM Depart from the Winterthur Visitor Center 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM Herr's Christmas Lights Display *Your admission ticket includes the garden, self-guided galleries, the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens, and a self-paced Yuletide Tour.

Lunch Choices

1. Chicken Piccata - boneless chicken breast with a light lemon, capers, and white wine cream sauce 2. Maple Citrus Salmon - North Atlantic salmon filet marinated and grilled, complemented with an apricot-scented basmati rice and an english cucumber, daikon radish & blood orange relish, finished with a fig balsamic glaze (Gluten-Free) 3. Sirloin - 6 oz center cut served with house thyme butter (Gluten-Free) A vegetarian option (Chef's choice) is available if required. All dishes also include house-made escarole soup with meatballs, fresh rolls with butter, traditional mashed potatoes, steamed fresh medley of seasonal vegetables, Lawlers NY Cheesecake, soda, coffee, and hot tea.

Please note

Our intention is to run each tour as originally planned and published. However, if deemed necessary to do so, Perkiomen Tours reserves the right to make changes to tour components, schedules or itineraries without prior notification. Tips for Perkiomen motorcoach drivers and tour escorts are not included in the price of this tour. We feel that these gratuities should be extended on an individual basis and dictated by the level of service provided. Motorcoach seating is assigned at the time of reservation but can not be guaranteed. Although we do our best to keep each traveler in the seat assigned at the time of reservation, there are times that it is necessary to move seat locations. Please be sure to verify your final seat number(s) with your driver at the time of boarding. To fully participate in this tour may require extended amounts of walking. There may be steps, inclines, uneven surfaces or extended periods of standing. Participants with physical limitation should take this into consideration.

Below is a list of pick-up points available on this tour.

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Decking the halls is a full-time job for whoever decorates Henry Francis du Pont's 175-room home for Yuletide at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library . While the theme of Yuletide changes each year, signature traditions include the show-stopping Dried-Flower Tree. Special events throughout the holiday season include Brunch with Santa, live jazz performances, caroling, and workshops.

More holiday & winter events, a brandywine christmas, a longwood christmas, christmas in odessa, holidays at hagley, holidays in odessa, noël at nemours estate, santa claus express on the wilmington & western railroad, st. patrick's day parade, the spirit of christmas in historic new castle, wilmington beer week, wilmington christmas parade, winter wonder, spotlight on wilmington.

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November 30, 2023

We're Sorry! Online sales are not available for this event. Please contact our Information and Tours Office at 800.448.3883 x7029 to get up-to-the-minute ticket availability information.

Feel the holiday magic with a visit to Winterthur’s annual Yuletide Tour

Celebrate the season with a one-of-a-kind holiday experience. The Yuletide Tour at Winterthur showcases rooms in Henry Francis du Pont’s former home decorated in full holiday splendor, including specially decorated trees that celebrate the garden. On view now through January 2, 2022, the displays are inspired by the traditions and festivities of the season as enjoyed by H. F. du Pont and his family.

Special holiday programs throughout the season include Wonderful Wednesdays in December and evening events featuring live jazz performances, caroling, and workshops. In addition to the Wednesday evening festivities, visitors can enjoy live one-man performances of A Christmas Carol by Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens; wine and chocolate tastings; and family events with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  

Winterthur founder H. F. du Pont (1880–1969) was born and spent his life on the estate, so the holidays were always a memorable time to celebrate with family and entertain friends. Rooms on the tour will recreate the parlor where the du Pont family and their guests opened gifts on Christmas Day and the dining room where they enjoyed Christmas dinner. 

Two vignettes depict New Year’s calling, a custom still practiced by the du Ponts. Every January 1, the women of the extended family gathered in hostess groups at various houses while the men traveled in groups to call upon them, bearing small gifts. One display represents a calling from the 1890s while a second recreates one from the 1940s.

The decorated trees on view include the renowned 14-foot dried-flower tree, an evergreen decorated with hydrangeas, yarrow, statice, globe amaranth, and other flowers, and new to the tour this year, a second breathtaking tree designed with dried flowers. Other trees are inspired by areas of the garden such as the March Bank and Azalea Woods.

In celebration of the upcoming exhibition Jacqueline Kennedy and H. F. du Pont: From Winterthur to the White House, opening May 7, 2022, a decorated tree recreates the one displayed at the White House in 1962, created by the first lady. With the theme of a “Children’s Christmas,” it featured candles, birds, snowflakes, angels, tiny twig stars, small wrapped gifts, reindeer, candy canes, stuffed animals, and a model PT-109 boat commemorating the president’s heroic deed during World War II. 

The trees on the Yuletide Tour also complement the exhibition Outside In: Nature-inspired Design at Winterthur, on view through January 2. The visually eclectic and immersive exhibition explores the connection to nature that is evident everywhere at Winterthur and which greatly influenced H. F. du Pont’s design aesthetic, one that has inspired other designers ever since. 

Information about the Yuletide Tour is online at  www.winterthur.org/holidays .

There are a lot of events and activities to enjoy in the area this holiday season.

The Resident Ensemble Players (REP), the professional acting company at the University of Delaware, is rereleasing their audio presentation of Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday tale A Christmas Carol , adapted by Sara Valentine and Michael Boudewyns. 

This free audio production will be available for streaming online through Dec. 26, through the Resident Ensemble Players’ website www.rep.udel.edu .

A Christmas Carol is a familiar story, retold to the delight of audiences year after year.  The eternally-damned spirit of Jacob Marley appears to Ebenezer Scrooge, warning it is not too late to escape his fate.  Scrooge endures the visitations of three Spirits, confronting him with his past and present sins in the hope that Scrooge may feel remorse and change his miserly ways. 

Another event to get you in the holiday spirit is the popular Herr’s Annual Holiday Lights Display. Herr Foods has been offering this light display during the holidays for more than 30 years. There are dozens of lighted displays for visitors to enjoy as they drive through the Herr Foods campus in Nottingham. It requires a team of five people approximately six weeks to create the annual lights display, using more than 600,000 lights. Now, approximately 90 percent of the lights that are part of the display are LED lights. These LED lights use 80 to 90 percent less energy than incandescent lights. It takes almost 220 sets of lights to cover “Big Blue,” the largest tree display. It is 90 feet high. There is no charge to enjoy the light display, and it will be open each day from dusk to dawn through Jan. 2, 2022.

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Playground at linvilla orchards, in focus: photography from the collection, there is a woman in every color: black women in art, paintings from the collection, workshop: pruning trees correctly, free skin cancer screening, current edition, read it now.

Yuletide at Winterthur offers spirit of season, tapestry of traditions

As we embark on another holiday season, we are thrilled to present the cherished tradition that is Yuletide at Winterthur. We are thankful that this annual celebration has become a beloved fixture for families throughout the region, a testament to the enduring charm of Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library .

At the heart of Yuletide is a commitment to honoring the rich tapestry of traditions woven by Winterthur founder Henry Francis du Pont and his family, while also embracing the innovative spirit of our dedicated team. Each year, we strive to weave together the timeless allure of the past with contemporary influences, ensuring that our guests not only relish familiar holiday rituals but also discover modern touches to appreciate.

Returning favorites await you, including the show-stopping Dried-Flower Tree — a unique masterpiece that reinvents itself annually — and the breathtaking holiday décor that transforms the 175-room du Pont mansion into a winter wonderland.

This year, our celebration incorporates the style of the current exhibition, " Ann Lowe: American Couturier ."

Yuletide and the Ann Lowe exhibition are yours to explore with general admission to Winterthur, which is open to the public until Sunday, Jan. 7. Immerse yourself in the seamless fusion of fashion and history, featuring custom designs by Delaware-based couturiers Shawn Baron Pinckney and Asata Maisé Beeks, paying homage to the design sensibilities of H.F. du Pont and the iconic Ann Lowe.

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Fashion pioneer: Preview the Ann Lowe: American Couturier exhibition soon to open at Winterthur Museum

The mansion, adorned in all its holiday finery, boasts many attractions, including Christmas trees inspired by Ann Lowe gowns and a spectacular Christmas dinner table setting. This year's Yuletide tour takes you on a journey through the splendor and design influence of florals in fashion.

Admire an 8-foot-tall dress of fabric flowers and greenery outside the Galleries Reception Area. This jaw-dropping work of art was created by Katya Roelse, the talented fashion instructor and designer at the University of Delaware who recreated Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress for the Lowe exhibition.

But Yuletide isn't just about the visuals; it’s a sensory experience with intriguing events , workshops, and more.

Families can delight in a host of activities, from a craft area to an engrossing three-story dollhouse filled with thousands of miniatures. A toy train display will run from Friday, Dec. 22, to Tuesday, Jan. 2.

Children and adults will equally be awed by a 4-by-8-foot gingerbread replica of our 3-acre children’s garden, Enchanted Woods.

While gingerbread houses have graced holiday tables since 16th-century Germany, this colossal confection is a recent addition to Winterthur's traditions.

Last year, the skilled artisans at Bredenbeck’s Bakery produced a 4-by-8-foot gingerbread duplicate of the Winterthur mansion.

Holiday house tours: Celebrate the season with a holiday house tour in Delaware

Building on that success, this year's creation by the Philadelphia bakery delves into the whimsical realm of Enchanted Woods. This mouth-watering gingerbread sculpture not only captures the playfulness of the children’s garden but also boasts a functioning water element and lighting.

Guests can test themselves by trying to spot cleverly concealed fairies around the sculpture.

The real Enchanted Woods was designed to look as though it was created by fairies.

The creation myth of Enchanted Woods says that the fairies inhabiting the garden missed the laughter of two girls who once played there. To hear such laughter again, the kindly creatures gathered artifacts from across the Winterthur estate and built a magical place to captivate other children.

A feast for the eyes and a treat for the imagination, each element of Enchanted Woods comes to life in gingerbread form. Wander among the enticing Story Stones, cross the Troll Bridge, say hi to Harvey the frog at Water’s Edge, marvel at the delicate Fairy Flower, navigate the intricate Labyrinth, follow the S-Serpentine Path, visit the delightful Faerie Cottage, explore Frog Hollow, enter the Tulip Tree House, have a party at the Acorn Tearoom, jump into the Bird’s Nest, and discover the secrets of the Green Man's Lair.

Yuletide at Winterthur runs seven days a week until Jan. 7, with extended hours on Wednesday evenings, and is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Tickets can be purchased on-site or online at winterthur.org .

Make your holiday shopping memorable at the Museum Store, open daily, featuring unique home décor, gifts, and jewelry that celebrate Winterthur’s beauty.

While Winterthur will close to the general public on Monday, Jan. 8, our members enjoy daily, year-round access to the garden and estate. We reopen to all visitors on March 2, welcoming you back for another year of wonder and exploration.

Chris Strand is the Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library.

It's Critters Season: All aboard for holiday season of trains, events, exhibitions at Brandywine Museum of Art

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Artist in Residence: Wonders of Nature through Art in Winterthur’s Greenhouses

Sarah Rafferty walks a lot.

“When I walk, I am deep in concentration, looking at plant silhouettes, their form, and how they might render as a future cyanotype,” she says.

Cyanotype photography is a unique, cameraless technique. The process was first used in 1842 by Sir John Herschel, mainly to reproduce documents, Sarah explains. About a year later, Anna Atkins famously used the cyanotype process to document physical algae specimens and became the first person to illustrate a book using photographic images.

Cyanotypes are created using a 1:1 ratio of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. Once combined, they become reactive to the sun.

“Using hand-coated and light sensitive paper, I expose my work to the UV rays of the sun in order to produce the botanical composition of each piece,” Sarah says.

“Each cyanotype is a representation of a moment in time, like a visual poem marking the sun, the wind, and the clouds of a given day,” she continues. “No two are ever the same. These moments get to live on your wall and bring the reminder of the natural world into your home.”

Winterthur is delighted to welcome Sarah of Atwater Designs as our summer Artist in Residence. During her residency, Sarah will showcase and teach the fascinating process of cyanotype.

A prolific local artist trained at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Sarah has extensive experience in both darkroom and digital photography. She launched Atwater Designs after many years of teaching and has since showcased her work globally. Her art has been featured in Town & Country magazine, Ralph Lauren collaborations, and other prominent projects. Sarah, who resides locally, draws inspiration from the beauty of the Brandywine Valley.

Engage with Sarah throughout the Summer

Artist in Residence Program , June 8–16: Working in Winterthur’s historic greenhouses, Sarah will create her cyanotypes using elements from the nearby cutting garden and the greenhouse metalwork. Her works on both paper and fabric will be displayed around the greenhouses throughout the week, inviting guests to stop by and learn. As visitors pass, Sarah will demonstrate the cyanotype process and discuss its historical significance and connection to Winterthur and early horticultural specimen collection and recording. This is a drop-in event. No reservations are necessary; just come and watch. Sarah’s work will be available for purchase directly from her.

Midsummer , June 22: Celebrate the summer solstice, reconnect with nature, and enjoy bonfires, dancing, food inspired by the garden, and a cyanotype demonstration and display.

Artisan Market , July 19–21: Some of the region’s most talented craftspeople, including Sarah, will present their outstanding wares as tent vendors.

Ground to Glass: Handcrafted Cocktail Workshop , August 18

Jason Brudereck

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

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