Holiday Visit at Longwood Gardens

Hello fellow bloggers 

and Happy New Year!

I had an opportunity to visit

Longwood Gardens again

while visiting in Pennsylvania

this past holiday!

This is the home of the Pierre duPont

the founder of Longwood Gardens.

The home was originally owned by a

Quaker farmer- George Peirce who 

purchased the land from William Penn 

in 1700. The home built by the Peirce 

family was updated and added on to by 

Mr. duPont in 1914.  My feature is a 

collection of pictures I took while visiting 

this home on our tour of

Longwood Gardens.

 I didn't get far and was intrigued with 

these giant hinges for these doors on

the side of the original home.

Apparently these fold back to open.

 I stared at these old steps and thought

about the many footsteps that had 

occurred over the many years

it served as a family home.

Coming around to the front of

the home I was intrigued by

this Wisteria. Can you imagine

how beautiful this must be when

it's blooming!!

 As we entered the conservatory

this music box was playing.  It

certainly added a nice touch!

This room is described as a living

room conservatory.  It joins the

two wings of the home.  I love this

idea.  Can you imagine during the

gloomy winter months being able

to sit in here and collect some bright

light and enjoy the live plants?  

It has to be good for the soul!

 There were a pair of these child

sized chairs on either side of the 

bench. I actually got a picture of a 

child sitting in it but I decided not to

show it to preserve his privacy.

Of course there are lots of 

poinsettias for the holiday.

 This is a large living room where

they are playing a video that gives

a history of the home and Longwood

Gardens.  It's right off the conservatory

near the palm trees.

This is a map drawer which included

blue prints for the home and grounds.

A very large bookcase

 In the center of this large

home between the two wings

is this grand stair case. We

aren't allowed to enter past 

here or go up to the 2nd floor.

Now we're heading to the right

side of the home.

Immediately on the right is

this very tiny staircase.

The stairs in the original home

leading up to the bedroom level.

There are a lot of rooms and

everyone of them has a fireplace!

It must have been a lot of work

keeping a home cozy and warm

back then!

 The office of Mr. duPont

Beautiful desk and bookcases

 The home is set up like a museum

with information and pictures

displayed.  It was busy and hard

to take time to study things for long.

 This tree sets next to the

large windows that I showed

in the beginning that fold out to open

the room. 

 A kitchen fireplace with the

swing out metal arms for

the pots.

 This tile floored room has built ins

for china and other goods. I imagine

it was a food prep area since we are

almost to the newer kitchen.

 This kitchen even has it's own safe!

Can you imagine! They displayed some

silver pieces in it, but I am amazed that

someone would put such a large safe

in a kitchen! The room also had a modern

linen dryer/heater in it too! Pretty

snazzy for the early 1900's

All done!

 Back out to the conservatory area.

So that's a wrap on my tour of this house!

This is a link to my garden blog

where I posted about the

beautiful conservatory and garden

areas.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you

enjoyed the tour too!

Liz