Pavilion (Garden Tours Pavilion)

As big crowds came to tour the museum and gardens, a facility was needed to serve them, well away from the du Ponts' private quarters in the Cottage. The Homseys' son Eldon informs me that this was his father's favorite work, one that “came together very simply” and that was, to the surprise of many, accepted by Henry Francis du Pont in spite of being “such a modern design.” Akin to a Japanese teahouse in its extensive glass sidewalls, shingled roof, and wide overhangs, it was originally meant to be open six weeks in spring as a ticket house and restaurant and needed to be contextual in the wooded landscape. Winterthur Museum curator Charles Hummel and other staffers placed stakes so that du Pont could approve the building's location and size. A lecture hall was added in 1964 and, shortly thereafter, the facility was put to year-round use.