Dazzling decorations and imaginative holiday trees inspired by poems, traditional tales, and children’s books will delight visitors to Yuletide at Winterthur, which is on view through January 4. During this year’s Yuletide season, Winterthur will offer fun for all ages, including magical garden displays, a large gingerbread replica of the historic train station on the estate, and extended hours on select Friday and Saturday evenings for tours, workshops, live music, shopping, and dining.

Guests will encounter enchanting displays based on A Visit from Saint Nicholas, Alice in Wonderland, C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and other literary classics.

Outside decorations will feature festive lights, antique sleighs, holiday trees suspended above the Reflecting Pool and the front pond, and vignettes inspired by the 1911 novel The Secret Garden. Other nods to literary works include a feast table display and champagne tower in the historic Greenhouse area, and a tree celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in the Visitor Center. 

A Storybook Holiday

Decorated rooms on the self-guided museum tour will feature holiday trees paired with the literary works that inspired them, theatrical props, and museum and library objects, such as Victorian combs, pocket watches, and historic toys, which will bring the stories to life.

In addition, Delaware Shakespeare actors have recorded excerpts from several of the works that served as inspiration for A Literary Yuletide, including Macbeth, The Great Gatsby, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Phillis Wheatley’s poems “Hymn to the Morning” and “Hymn to the Evening.”
The Du Pont Dining Room will feature a display inspired by A Christmas Carol. In an opulent scene from the story, Ebenezer Scrooge’s boss, Old Fezziwig, hosts a grand Christmas party for his friends, family, and employees. Delaware Shakespeare recorded a soundscape that will set the mood for the party scene and dining room decor.     

In one room, guests will peer through a rendering of an open wardrobe to see the holiday tree inspired by The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The life-sized illustration is based on a wardrobe from the museum’s renowned furniture collection. With its doors flung open in quiet invitation, the vignette evokes the classic moment when the character Lucy Pevensie first catches a glimpse of another world shimmering beyond. 

A purple tree in the Port Royal Entrance Hall will evoke “The Purple Cow” poem by Gelett Burgess. The literary selection is a nod to Winterthur’s early days as a farm, where founder Henry Francis du Pont bred prized Holstein Friesian dairy cattle.

While the poem, published in 1895, begins “I never saw a Purple Cow …,” visitors will indeed see a life-sized purple cow statue in the entrance hall, reflecting the whimsical spirit of Burgess’s famous poem.  

Dried-flower tree anchors Yuletide display in Museum Conservatory

The iconic Dried-Flower Tree, a focal point of Yuletide at Winterthur, will once again be on display in the soaring, glass-walled Conservatory at the museum entrance. A Winterthur tradition since 1985, the tree is a design masterpiece that showcases over 60 kinds of dried flowers artfully arranged into an unforgettable holiday display. 

Colorful flowers have always been a vital part of Winterthur, both inside and out. Throughout the year, flowers are collected from across the estate and, before they wilt, are preserved and dried by members of the floral design team. 

Annual gingerbread display harkens to Winterthur’s railroad roots

Guests will marvel at a grand gingerbread replica of the Winterthur Train Station (c. 1890), adding a sweet and whimsical touch to the festivities, along with a magical dollhouse and an interactive model train display.

For the fifth year, Bredenbeck’s Bakery & Ice Cream Parlor in Philadelphia will create Winterthur’s Yuletide gingerbread display. The family-run business has been in operation for over a century. The Winterthur Train Station gingerbread replica will be Bredenbeck’s biggest challenge yet. It took a team of six people more than 100 hours (102 to be exact!) to mix, bake, and decorate the train station. Made with 18 pounds of butter and 62 pounds of sugar, the finished creation, including a special support board, weighs 196.5 pounds. 

More for the train lovers 

Winterthur’s festive toy train display in Brown Horticulture Learning Center will showcase Lionel Standard Guage trains Tuesdays through Sundays between Dec. 21 and Jan. 1. On December 27, members of the Standard Gauge Module Association will give a behind-the-scenes look into how this toy train setup came to life, how they got started in model train collecting, and the adventures they’ve had in exhibiting their display.

Plan your visit

Don’t forget to enjoy Winterthur’s regular exhibitions, library, and garden programs during Yuletide, including a Director’s Garden Walk to learn about conifers on December 13 and a New Year’s Day Hike on January 1, where estate guides will lead guests on a peaceful, family-friendly hike through scenic meadows, woodlands, and trails.

Yuletide runs through January 4, 2026, Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are also extended hours on select dates. For tickets and detailed event schedules, and more, visit winterthur.org/Yuletide.