Tour of the Port Royal Parlor at Winterthur
Bob returns to Winterthur, industrialist Henry Francis du Pont's country estate, which is now a museum in Delaware's Brandywine Valley
Clip Summary
Bob returns to Winterthur, industrialist Henry Francis du Pont's country estate, which is now a museum in Delaware's Brandywine Valley. The museum's Port Royal Parlor display was originally part of a country home in Philadelphia slated for demolition in the 1920s. A collector of American antiques and architecture, du Pont bought the entire home and moved it to Winterthur.Pauline Eversmann, Winterthur's program director, joins Bob for a tour and recounts the parlor's history. The entryway opens onto the gardens, and in Colonial times, the doors would remain open to provide a view of the garden before guests proceeded to the parlor.
As an area of the home intended for formal entertaining, du Pont wanted this room to be functional, so he expanded the parlor from its original size. Among the period antiques on display is an antique high chest that du Pont purchased for $44,000 in 1929, setting a long-standing price record for early American furniture.
