Anne and I drove to Middletown, DE — the town in which my longtime friends Mary Jo and Spot (aka Ron) now live. They are in a charming one-story new house, built to look old. All of their antique, distinctive and not modern furniture look wonderful in there.
It was great to see them. I have been friends with Mary Jo for almost forty years and was in their wedding when we were both about age 40.
The next morning they picked us up to go see Winterthur, a magnificent house, garden and grounds, where they are members. It was beautiful! The grounds were heavily planted but in a natural sort of way.
The land upon which Winterthur was built was purchased by Pierre du Pont de Nemours shortly after he moved from France to the Brandywine Valley in 1800. In 1837 his daughter Evelina and her husband Jacques Antoine Bidermann purchased 450 acres from her father’s estate and built a 12-room Greek Revival house and named it Winterthur in honor of Antoine’s ancesteral home in Switzerland. Over the years they developed flower, fruit and vegetable gardens. The house was eventually increased considerably in size while remaining in the extended family. It was opened to the public in 1951; the du Ponts moved to a smaller house nearby which is now the Museum Store.
Take a look….
We stopped at Big Fish Grill in Wilmington on the way home — great fried fish!
A wonderful day!
Beth
Beth's Blogs 
My Mother Loved visiting Wintethur—she and her cousin visited it several times, along with Longwood Gardens.
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