"'Home' can mean the physical place where you live and the place where you gather or the moments and people that fill us with comfort." That's how Winterthur's September 24 announcement describes this year's Yuletide theme. The season runs November 21 through January 3 at the estate on Route 52, six miles northwest of Wilmington.
The theme matters more than usual this year. It shapes what goes on display inside the house during the day. It also explains why the evening calendar reads like a list of separate small events. If you live close enough to go more than once, the decision isn't whether to see Yuletide. It's which Friday or Saturday night to pick.
This year the theme comes from Winterthur's own history
Last season's tour was "A Literary Yuletide," built around 20 works of literature, as the Delaware Online gallery from December 2025 showed. That theme was borrowed from books. This year's comes from Winterthur itself. According to Winterthur, the "home" theme is inspired by its estate history exhibition, At Home at Winterthur, which presents the museum and grounds as a place shaped by the people who lived and worked there and by the visitors who kept coming back.
That theme shows up throughout the tour:
- Rooms back after twenty years. The tour includes some rooms that haven't been part of Yuletide in two decades.
- Trees drawn from the grounds. The traditional Dried-Flower Tree is back in the Conservatory. New trees are inspired by the March Bank and Enchanted Woods garden areas, one by "The Nutcracker," and several by the theme of home.
- The du Pont house in gingerbread. Bredenbeck's Bakery of Germantown, Pennsylvania, made a large gingerbread house showing the du Pont home on Christmas Eve. It's displayed near an 18-room dollhouse furnished with more than 1,000 miniatures.
- Family traditions. Displays throughout the tour reflect holiday customs of Henry Francis du Pont, his wife and their daughters.
Yuletide admission also covers two exhibitions: At Home at Winterthur and Challenging Masterpieces: Art and Identity in American Furniture, which shows more than 70 pieces from the collection. Tickets are $33 for adults, $31 for seniors and students, $30 per person for groups of 15 or more and $12 for children ages 3 to 12. Children 2 and under get in free.
In the evening, the house tour is lit by candles
Starting November 27, Winterthur stays open from 5 to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays for Holiday Nights. The house is toured by candlelight, with live music, firepits outside, specialty cocktails and seasonal food at the café. The last house tour starts at 7:15 p.m. If you want both the tour and a fire, arrive close to 5.
Winterthur says Holiday Nights are included with admission and recommends reserving ahead. Winterthur gave most evenings their own short program, usually a hands-on workshop with its own ticket. Every workshop price below includes Holiday Nights admission, so you don't need a separate admission ticket on top of it.
| Night | Program | Time | Ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 27 | Hammered Copper Leaf Ornaments | 5 to 7 p.m. | $45, sold out |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Handmade Holiday Treasures | 5 to 7 p.m. | $35 |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Gather & Graze: Charcuterie Workshop | 6 to 7 p.m. | $75 |
| Fri, Dec 4 | Gather & Graze: Charcuterie Workshop | 6 to 7 p.m. | $75 |
| Fri, Dec 4 | A Christmas Carol | 6 to 7:30 p.m. | $25 show only, $35 with admission |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Felted Holiday Cookies | 5 to 7 p.m. | $40 |
| Sat, Dec 5 | A Christmas Carol | 6 to 7:30 p.m. | $25 show only, $35 with admission |
| Fri, Dec 11 | The Perfect Pair: A Cider and Cheese Tasting | 6 to 7:30 p.m. | $52 |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Crepe Paper Hellebores | 5 to 7 p.m. | $40 |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Candlelight Concert with OperaDelaware | 6 to 7 p.m. | $38 to $40 |
| Fri, Dec 18 | No program scheduled | 5 to 8 p.m. | Admission |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Wrapped with Nature: Botanical Holiday Ribbon Dyeing | 5 to 7:30 p.m. | $95 |
| Sat, Jan 2 | Secret Inspiration Book | Evening | $35 |
The two weekends of December are the ones that stand out. A Christmas Carol is new this year, a retelling of the Dickens story staged by Winterthur and the Farm Hill Players with humor, music and movement. It plays both evenings of the December 4 to 5 weekend, plus a 1 p.m. matinee on Sunday, December 6, for anyone who'd rather go in daylight. Children under 12 pay $10 for the show only or $15 with general admission. On December 12, OperaDelaware performs seasonal classics, popular standards and opera favorites surrounded by hundreds of candles. Members pay $34 to $36, students $18 to $20 and children 12 and under $14 to $16.
December 18 is the quiet night, and December 19 is the busiest day
Friday, December 18 is the one Holiday Night with no workshop or performer on the calendar. It gets the same 5 to 8 p.m. hours, candlelit house, firepits and café as every other evening, and nothing else is competing for your time. If what you want from the season is to walk through the decorated rooms by candlelight, this is the night set up for that.
Saturday, December 19 fills the whole day:
- The Toy Train Display opens at 10 a.m. in the Brown Horticulture Learning Center, courtesy of the Standard Gauge Module Association. It's free with admission and runs both days of that weekend, December 19 and 20.
- At 2 p.m., the Cartoon Christmas Trio plays "Christmastime is Here: The Music of Vince Guaraldi," an hour of mid-century jazz. Tickets are $28 to $30 general, $24 to $26 for members, $26 to $28 for students and seniors, and $10 to $12 for children 12 and under.
- At 5 p.m., the ribbon-dyeing workshop begins, using botanical color from the garden for gift wrapping. At $95, it's the most expensive evening program of the season.
A family with young children could plan the whole day around the trains and the Guaraldi set and leave before dark. Someone who wants the evening could skip all of it and come the night before.
Opening day, and the dates when the evening is dark
The season opens Saturday, November 21 with the Holiday Market, an outdoor market with more than 50 regional artisans, seasonal treats, warm drinks and live music. That day also features live ice sculpture carving, Winterthur's 1927 Rolls-Royce on display and a visit from Santa. Unlike regular Yuletide days, market day requires a reservation for one of two windows, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2 to 5 p.m. Prices match Yuletide admission, and members get in free. Paid add-ons are a $25 wine tasting, a $35 chocolate tasting and a $75 wreath workshop. Check the Holiday Market page for availability before you plan the day around it.
Over the holidays, the schedule has gaps:
- Winterthur is closed on Christmas Day.
- Saturday, December 26 has daytime hours only, with no Holiday Night.
- New Year's Day is open during regular daytime hours only.
- The last Holiday Night is Saturday, January 2, and Yuletide closes on January 3. After that, Winterthur is closed for the season from early January until late February.
The Winterthur Museum Store is open Tuesday through Sunday for holiday shopping, and you can order online at winterthurstore.com. If you'd rather tour in daylight and eat on the way home, Town Square Delaware reports that The Copper Dram in Greenville is open daily and now serves lunch on weekdays.
This year Winterthur built its holiday season around what makes a house feel like home: the rooms, the family traditions and the people who gather there. I've spent nearly 40 years helping people around Greenville buy and sell the houses where those traditions happen. If you're starting to wonder what your own home means for your next move, Will Webber is glad to talk it through over coffee after the holidays. Let's Connect.
