The holiday season in Greenville comes in pieces. Winterthur opens Yuletide on Saturday, November 21. Hagley starts its Victorian Christmas six days later. The Centreville Holiday Stroll falls the day after that. The weekend that collects the most in one place comes later, on December 12 and 13, when Winterthur, Hagley and Mt. Cuba Center each have something scheduled within about 24 hours of each other.
Before any of that, the road crews have to clear out. As this week ends, Kennett Pike is still finishing its paving work.
The pavement goes first
The Delaware Department of Transportation announced lane and ramp closures on Kennett Pike from Route 141 to Buck Road for paving, from October 12 through November 2. Weekday closures ran Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Weekend closures ran around the clock from Thursday at 7 p.m. to Monday at 5 a.m. DelDOT's travel advisory schedule added a final stretch: lane closures in both directions between Route 141 and Buck Road from November 2 through November 6, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. All of it is weather dependent, so the schedule is a plan and not a promise.
The contract covers more than fresh asphalt. Mumford & Miller Concrete, which won the job in July, is rebuilding the Route 52 intersections at Briars Lane and Presidential Drive. It is also milling and overlaying Kennett Pike through the Buck Road and Powder Mill Square intersection, including about 130 feet of Buck Road itself. The work also includes new ADA curb ramps, curb repairs and upgraded pavement markings. Under the traffic management plan, the signal at Briars Lane and Presidential Drive flashes during the first three construction phases. Left turns there are detoured by way of Buck Road, Montchanin Road and Route 141.
One closure lasts well past the paving. Twaddell Mill Road is closed between Kennett Pike and Montchanin Road while bridge 1-084 is replaced. DelDOT's September release set the closure from September 21 through November 30, with the detour running over Center Meeting Road in both directions. On that schedule, the bridge stays closed through Winterthur's opening weekend and Thanksgiving weekend. Anyone cutting between Route 100 and Route 52 on the way to Yuletide or the Centreville stroll should plan on Center Meeting Road.
November 21: Winterthur has the opening to itself
For one week, Yuletide at Winterthur is the only holiday program on the corridor. The season runs November 21 through January 3, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Opening day also brings a Holiday Market with more than 70 regional artisans, set up outdoors with warm drinks and live music. It also includes ice carving, Winterthur's 1927 Rolls-Royce on display, a visit from Santa, and ticketed workshops in wine tasting, chocolate tasting and wreath making.
The house tour has a reason for repeat visitors to go back this year. Winterthur's September announcement says the 2026 tour includes some rooms that have not been featured in two decades. Expect more than a dozen decorated trees, including the traditional Dried-Flower Tree in the Conservatory. Other trees take their cues from the March Bank and the Enchanted Woods, and one from "The Nutcracker." Bredenbeck's Bakery of Germantown built a large gingerbread house showing the du Pont home on Christmas Eve. It sits near an 18-room dollhouse furnished with more than 1,000 miniatures.
Yuletide admission also covers the two current exhibitions. Challenging Masterpieces: Art and Identity in American Furniture shows more than 70 pieces from the collection. At Home at Winterthur is the estate-history exhibition behind this year's theme of home.
Thanksgiving weekend fills in the corridor
The Friday after Thanksgiving, three things start at once. Hagley opens Holidays at Hagley on November 27. Winterthur's Holiday Nights begin the same day, keeping the house open until 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Saturday adds the Centreville Holiday Stroll on Kennett Pike, which the Hotel du Pont's event calendar lists for November 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Centreville Civic Association describes the stroll as its annual November event on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
| Day | Hagley | Winterthur | Centreville |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Holidays at Hagley opens, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Yuletide 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; first Holiday Night, open until 8 p.m. | |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Yuletide plus Holiday Night, open until 8 p.m. | Holiday Stroll, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Yuletide, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
The hours make a Saturday that runs in sequence. Hagley closes at 4 p.m. The Centreville stroll runs until 6 p.m. Winterthur stays open until 8 p.m. for candlelit tours, live music, firepits, specialty cocktails and seasonal food at the café.
Hagley's program sits on Workers' Hill and takes the form of a Victorian Christmas. Visitors can make cards and ornaments to take home, and gingerbread comes out of a wood-burning stove. It is included with regular admission, which runs $22 for adults, $18 for students, seniors and veterans, and $12 for children 6 to 14. Children under 6 get in free.
The two estates close on different days
Winterthur and Hagley each close one weekday, and it is a different day for each. Yuletide runs Tuesday through Sunday, so Winterthur is closed on Mondays. Hagley's seasonal schedule, in effect since November 2, is six days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed on Wednesdays. Hagley's holiday calendar shows the same thing. It lists November 30 and December 7, both Mondays, and skips every Wednesday in December.
For houseguests who stay over a long weekend, a Monday at Hagley and a Wednesday at Winterthur both work. A Monday at Winterthur does not.
December weekends, ranked by how much is on
The December calendar is not spread evenly. Here are the weekends from lightest to busiest:
- December 4 to 6. Winterthur and the Farm Hill Players stage "A Christmas Carol," new this year. It is a four-ghost retelling with humor, music and movement, running December 4 and 5 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and December 6 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. On Saturday, December 5, Santa visits Hagley from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The visit is included with admission and is free for children 14 and under and for members.
- December 19 and 20. The Cartoon Christmas Trio plays "Christmas is Here: The Music of Vince Guaraldi" at Winterthur on December 19 from 2 to 3 p.m. On December 19 and 20, the Standard Gauge Module Association sets up a toy train display in the Brown Horticulture Learning Center.
- December 12 and 13. All three estates have something this weekend. On Saturday, Hagley runs Science Saturday: Frosty Forces from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., included with admission. That evening, Opera Delaware sings seasonal classics, standards and opera favorites at Winterthur, surrounded by hundreds of candles, from 6 to 7 p.m. On Sunday, December 13, Mt. Cuba Center holds its Solstice Celebration from 1 to 5:30 p.m.
The Mt. Cuba event is the one on this list that needs a separate ticket. Mt. Cuba's listing offers winter garden tours starting at 1 p.m., billed as exclusive off-season access. A concert follows from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in a heated tent outside the Copeland House, which is open for the day. The lineup is Charm City Junction, the father-son duo Ken and Brad Kolodner, and members of Helicon, including Robin Bullock, Chris Norman and Ken Kolodner. Percussive dancers perform traditional steps, and ornament-making is on the schedule too. Tickets are $40 for adults and $20 for children. Members pay $30 and $15, and children under 6 get in free.
Compared with the Hagley admission above, the solstice adult ticket costs nearly twice as much, $40 against $22. It covers a full afternoon of garden access and a two-hour concert, with seasonal drinks and snacks sold on site.
Christmas week and the last days
The schedule tightens as the holidays get close. Hagley closes at 2 p.m. on December 24 and is closed on December 25. Winterthur skips its late opening on December 26 and January 1, a Saturday and a Friday when Holiday Nights would otherwise run until 8 p.m.
Both seasons end on January 3. After that, Winterthur closes for the season from early January through late February. A visit that slips past the first Sunday of the new year waits until spring.
Do you have family coming in for the holidays and want a hand planning a weekend along Kennett Pike, or are you starting to think about which Greenville streets make that routine part of everyday life? Next Move Delaware Valley is glad to talk it through. Let's Find Home.
