leading to the second fl oor features a striking cobalt-
blue stained-glass window designed by Alfred’s son.
Rare antiques from the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries fi ll the home, from a Louis XVI musical clock
that plays four different melodies to a chair that once
occupied Independence Hall and one that appeared at
the 1937 coronation of King George VI in England. The
formal drawing room holds several portraits, including
one by renowned artist Sir Joshua Reynolds and another
featuring Alfred’s great-great-grandmother Marie LeDee
duPont; paintings of royal couple Marie Antoinette and
Louis XVI grace opposite walls in the dining room.
It is easy to picture Alfred in the masculine environs
of the Jacobean-oak-paneled library, which doubled as
the duPonts’ den, while Jessie visited with her friends
and family members in the decidedly feminine morning
victoriamag.com 40HIDDEN TREASURES