The Reynolda House Museum of American Art displays a premiere collection of Americanart ranging from the colonial period to the present. Built in 1917 by Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband R. J. Reynolds, founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the house originally occupied the center of a 1,067-acre (4.32 km2) estate. It opened to the public as an institution dedicated to the arts and education in 1965, and as an art museum in 1967. The house holds one of the country's finest collections of American paintings. It is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[1]
Design and construction began in 1912 and lasted until the end of 1917. Charles Barton Keen, who had gained success designing homes in Pennsylvania and New York, was the architect of not only the main house, but also the village on the estate that included a church, stables, and a school. Katharine Reynolds was very involved with the design of Reynolda, and some of her correspondence with Keen survives. The family finally moved in December 1917, but R. J. Reynolds was ill with pancreatic cancer and was not able to enjoy his new home. He died July 29, 1918.[2]
Reynolda was the home of two generations of the Reynolds family. In 1935, Mary Reynolds Babcock, the elder daughter, acquired the estate. She and her husband Charles Babcock used the house as their vacation home until 1948, when they moved permanently to Reynolda. The property remained in the family for nearly 50 years. The museum restored its rooms and furnishings to reflect the periods when the family lived there. The iconic green Ludowiciterra cotta tile roof influenced many other prominent homes and architecture around Winston-Salem. Reynolda became affiliated with Wake Forest University in 2002.[3]
Located on Reynolda Road, a large portion of Reynolda can be explored on foot. In addition to the house, 28 of the original thirty buildings remain. To the west lie the restored formal gardens with Japanese cryptomeria and weeping cherry trees. The 16-acre (65,000 m2) lake behind the house ("Lake Katharine") has reverted to wetlands which provide a home for a variety of wildlife. Many of the buildings in the village are occupied by boutiques, shops, and restaurants.[1] A short walk across the dam leads from the village to Wake Forest University, which was built on land donated from the grounds of Reynolda House to the college by Mary and Charles Babcock.
A French restaurant, La Chaudiere, once occupied the family's former boiler room, but closed in the 1990s.[1][4]
Reynolda House Museum of American Art houses a permanent collection of American art and sculpture from three centuries. The artists featured in the collection include Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Gilbert Stuart. Most of the pieces are displayed throughout the historic house.
In 2005, Reynolda House opened the Mary and Charlie Babcock Wing which features a gallery space for traveling exhibitions. There are usually two shows featured in that space every year, one in the fall and one in the spring. There are other exhibitions throughout the year in the Northeast and West Bedrooms in the house.
