A Walk In The Rain And A Quick Visit to the Peirce-duPont House in Longwood Gardens

I spent three hours exploring the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens in Kenneth Square on Friday. And  I still didn’t get to see all of the beautiful displays of  flowers,  ferns, plants and trees. However, it was getting late in the afternoon and the heavy  rain let up a bit so I decided to see some more of these famous Gardens.  I decided to walk about a block to the historic Peirce-duPont House. 

I took one last walk past Sprout, the corpse plant   It was not going to bloom  that day so I said good night and  hoped it would bloom overnight. 

Although the rains had eased up from the torrential downpours earlier in the day, there was still a steady rain falling as I walked to the Peirce-duPont House. I was still soaked from my walk from my car when I arrived so it didn’t really matter. I got a glimpse at the some of the beautiful gardens and fountains as I hurried through the rain.

I arrived at the house that the  entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist Pierre duPont resided after he purchased the old Peirce farm . He made some additions  to the structure but parts of the original  house that was built  in 1730 still remained.

I could have spent hours looking at all of the informative displays. But it  was late afternoon and I had already spent hours walking around the Conservatory. So I went through the many rooms a lot quicker than I would have liked. The first room on the tour was the beautiful library. 

In addition to the books,

there were many objects on display. One of the displays that caught my attention was a early 20th century jigsaw puzzle.As  a child and teenager I loved assembling jigsaw puzzles.  In fact I just put one together last Winter.  It looks like Mr. duPont or his wife did too. 

I next visited Mr. duPont’s office. I wondered about the  many  business deals that were made from that desk. 

There were rooms filled with exhibits on the open air  theatre were many plays and concerts were held over the years and still are. 

Another room provided information on the legendary  philanthropy  of Mr. duPont.  His  desire to share the beauty he enjoyed on his travels has been realized. He has provided an opportunity for so many people to enjoy this beauty, myself included. 

There were a few portraits of this wealthy and  powerful man throughout the house. As I  always do when I observe portraits, I reflected on his life, his memories, his experiences, what he was think when he posed for it. I hope to learn more about this man who created these gardens.  

I left the Peirce-duPont house and found the rain had become a light drizzle. As tired as I was I had to do a little exploration so I took   a walk through the ancient trees of Peirce  Woods. These trees were planted by the Peirce family, and it was duPonts desire to preserve them, that resulted in him purchasing the Peirce estate. 

I walked to the magnificent Italian Gardens and the impressive fountains.

I wanted to continue to explore but it was late and I  had to head back.

On the way I got a glimpse of the beauty of some of the gardens. 

I also saw this soaked squirrel also  taking a walk after the heavy rains. 

I had decided to stay at a nearby hotel and return in the morning. Hopefully. Sprout will have decided to bloom overnight. Even if it didn’t I was excited to explore more of this beautiful gardens. This is a link to a gallery with some more photographs  from my visit to the Conservatory and the  Peirce-DuPont House in the rain. Longwood Gardens afternoon walk July 10 2020

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
― Albert Pike

fskokoski@gmail.com

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