The Well-Dressed Window: Curtains At Winterthur

Today Henry Francis du Pont, the force behind the transformation of Winterthur from a family house to the premier museum of American decorative arts, is recognized, along with Henry Sleeper and Elsie de Wolf, as one of the early leaders of interior design in this country. He assembled his rooms using architectural elements from historic houses along the East Coast and decorated them with historically correct furniture and period colors. His favorite part of the process was the design of the curtains, which offered almost infinite variety in choice of fabric and style. At the Window surveys du Pont's achievement, explaining how the fabrics were selected and their relationship to the overall decoration of the rooms. A special feature of du Pont's obsession was the design of seasonal curtains, which were rotated through the year as lighting and colors shifted with the seasons. Both a history and a guide to design, At the Window is a unique compendium and an invaluable resource for designers and homeowners.