Reynolda House Museum of American Art facts for kids
View from front lawn
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| Established | 1967 |
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| Location | 2250 Reynolda Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27106 |
The Reynolda House Museum of American Art is a special place in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It's an art museum that used to be the home of the Reynolds family. The house was built in 1917 by Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, R. J. Reynolds. He was the person who started the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
Today, the museum shows amazing American art. This art covers many different time periods, from the early days of America to modern times. The house was once the center of a huge estate, about 1,067 acres (4.3 km²)! It first opened to the public in 1965 for arts and education. Then, in 1967, it officially became an art museum.
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History of Reynolda House
The design and building of Reynolda House started in 1912. It took about five years to finish, wrapping up at the end of 1917. The architect, Charles Barton Keen, was very good at designing homes. He also designed other buildings on the estate, like a church, stables, and a school. Katharine Reynolds was very involved in planning her new home. She even wrote letters to the architect about her ideas!
The Reynolds family moved into their new home in December 1917. Sadly, R. J. Reynolds was very sick and passed away in July 1918. He didn't get to enjoy the house for very long.
Reynolda House was home to two generations of the Reynolds family. In 1935, Mary Reynolds Babcock, the older daughter, took over the estate. She and her husband, Charles Babcock, used the house as a vacation spot. Later, in 1948, they moved there permanently. The family owned the property for almost 50 years. Today, the museum has restored the rooms and furniture to look like they did when the family lived there. The house has a famous green tile roof made of terra cotta. This roof style inspired many other buildings in Winston-Salem. In 2002, Reynolda House became connected with Wake Forest University.
Exploring Reynolda Estate
Reynolda House is located on Reynolda Road, and you can explore a lot of the area on foot. Besides the main house, 28 of the original 30 buildings are still standing.
To the west of the house, you'll find the beautiful Reynolda Gardens. These formal gardens have special trees like Japanese cryptomeria and weeping cherry trees. There used to be a 16-acre (65,000 m²) lake behind the house called "Lake Katharine." Now, it's a wetland area, which is a great home for many different kinds of wildlife.
Many of the buildings in the nearby village are now home to fun shops, boutiques, and restaurants. You can take a short walk across a dam from the village to get to Wake Forest University. The land for the university was actually given by Mary and Charles Babcock from the Reynolda House grounds.
Amazing Art Collection
The Reynolda House Museum of American Art has a permanent collection of American art. This includes paintings and sculptures from three centuries! You can see works by famous artists like Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Gilbert Stuart. Most of these artworks are displayed right inside the historic house, making it feel like you're walking through a home filled with masterpieces.
Cool Artworks to See
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Gilbert Stuart, Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, 1809
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Edward Hicks, Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch, c. 1826-30
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Thomas Cole, Home in the Woods, 1847
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Frederic Church, The Andes of Ecuador, 1855
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Emanuel Leutze, Worthington Whittredge in His Tenth Street Studio, 1865
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Alfred Henry Maurer, Landscape of Provence, c. 1912-1922
Special Exhibitions
In 2005, Reynolda House opened the Mary and Charlie Babcock Wing. This part of the museum has a special gallery space for "traveling exhibitions." These are art shows that come from other museums and visit Reynolda House for a limited time. Usually, there are two big traveling shows each year, one in the fall and one in the spring. You can also find other smaller exhibitions throughout the year in different rooms of the house.
Past Exhibitions You Might Have Seen
- Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey, October 13, 2012 - January 13, 2013
- Modern Masters from the Smithsonian Art Museum, October 7, 2011 - December 31, 2011
- Trains that Passed in the Night: The Photographs of O. Winston Link, February 19, 2011 - June 19, 2011
- William Christenberry: Photographs, 1961-2005, February 13, 2010 - June 27, 2010
- The American Expatriates: Cassatt, Sargent, and Whistler, December 5, 2009 - April 5, 2010
- Chuck Close: The Keith Series, January 17, 2009 - May 31, 2009
- Ancestry and Innovation: African American Art from the American Folk Art Museum, February 2, 2008 - April 13, 2008
- Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation, January 27, 2007 - April 22, 2007
- J. M. W. Turner and Frederic Church: An Atlantic Conversation, November 15, 2005 - February 5, 2006
See also
- Reynolda Historic District, a historic area listed on the National Register of Historic Places
