Celebrate America's grandest early 19th century country estate at one of California's finest early 20th century country estates. Stroll the European-inspired gardens and rooms of the latter while dreaming of the French treasures and vast gardens of the former. Savor a catered lunch with Forum friends, then sit back and hear the little-known story of Joseph Bonaparte's Point Breeze. Lecture Hall opens at 11:30am.

This is a complimentary member only event. Give friends the gift of ADAF membership and invite them to share a glorious day at Filoli. New memberships purchased now will last through 2022 AND all the way through 2023!

French émigrés and refugees have come to America for centuries. Huguenots fled for religious reasons, others came to help the American cause during the Revolution, some during the uprising of the enslaved in Saint-Domingue, while others left their country for political reasons. All made important contributions to America’s economic, political, and artistic culture.

Perhaps the best-connected and cultured Frenchman to come was Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother and the King of Spain. Arriving in New York in 1815, the following year he settled in Philadelphia, bringing with him a love of French art and culture. First he rented the palatial mansion Lansdowne, owned by the Bingham family, but he soon built his own country place, Point Breeze, along the Delaware River, in Bordentown, New Jersey. Though he rented winter quarters in Philadelphia, he spent the more temperate months at Point Breeze. Filling the house with elegant French furniture and exceptional French paintings and sculpture, it became a mecca of culture. He entertained lavishly and exhibited his beautiful abode to a variety of Philadelphians. In addition to its amazing interiors, he created impressive pleasure gardens for guests to stroll in and to admire the views from the promenade above the Delaware. Sadly, the house no longer stands and the gardens are now overgrown.

Ms. Cooper’s illustrated lecture will capture the cultural ambience and beauty of Point Breeze’s extraordinary interiors and extensive gardens.

Wendy A. Cooper is Curator Emerita of furniture at Winterthur Museum following two decades as senior curator of furniture. A graduate of Brown University, with an M.A. from the Winterthur Program, University of Delaware, she has worked at The Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Colonial Williamsburg, and has guest curated four exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art. Before coming to Winterthur in 1995 she was Curator of Decorative Arts at the Baltimore Museum of Art where she organized the traveling exhibition Classical Taste in America, 1800-1840, with the accompanying book. In 2011 she organized the groundbreaking exhibition Paint, Pattern, and People: Furniture of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1725-1850 at Winterthur. She is now a consultant, researcher, writer, and lecturer, and serves on museum committees and boards including The Committee for the Preservation of the White House.