Photo of the Day: Majestic Scene, Majestic Day, Majestic Estate

I took this photo nearly two weeks ago while on vacation in the Brandywine Valley, at Winterthur, the country estate of several generations of the du Ponts. The last of the industrial dynasty to occupy the house, Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969)--probably America’s greatest collector of Americana in his time--was also, at heart, a horticulturalist. The estate, located six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware, exemplifies a naturalistic style of gardening, in contrast to the more formal landscaping another estate owned by the du Ponts in the valley, Longwood Gardens.