Wednesday October 10, 2012

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 Longwood Gardens, located at Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is renowned for magnificent gardens featuring 14,000 varieties of plants.

A Quaker family named Peirce purchased the land from William Penn in 1700 and planted ornamental trees. By the mid-19th century, this park had become one of America’s choicest aboretums.

Pierre S. duPont (1870-1954) bought the property in 1906 and, in addition to heading both DuPont and General Motors, set about to create magnificent formal gardens and fountains that would rival the splendor of Versailles.

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More pictures from inside the Conservatory

Light Shower

Enjoy the beauty.

A beautiful crystal chandelier in Exhibition Hall – also part of the Conservatory.

A change of camera settings changed the appearance of the chandelier.

The main occupant of the ballroom in Exhibition Hall is the Longwood Organ, the largest Aeolian organ ever constructed in a residential setting. 

 The organ was built in 1930 by the Aeolian Company, and the pipes are housed in a chamber 63 feet wide, 23 feet deep, and 40 feet high which runs parallel to the ballroom. 

The organ is composed of 10,010 pipes which are divided into 146 ranks.

Dessert service for twenty-four

Venetian (circa) 1920

Given by Pierre du Pont to his brother and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Irenee du Pont.

It was gifted to Longwood Gardens in 2005 by the Irenee du Pont, Jr. family.

More beauty after leaving Exhibition Hall.

Camellias are originally from the Himalayas and their name means ‘flowering tea’ in chinese, because the tea plant is a member of this family.

You know they are in the area by their fragrance.

I am fascinated by lights…

…and fountains. (Notice the pennies.)

I found this area to be the most unusual and beautiful of its kind.

Can you guess what this very important area is? Look closely.

It’s the hall of bathrooms.

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More pictures tomorrow night.

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