Winmill Carriage Museum

Morven Park is most well known for its equestrian attractions and the opulent Davis Mansion, one-time home of two former governors, 19th century Maryland governor Thomas Swann, Jr., and Westmoreland Davis, who governed Virginia between 1918 and 1922.  The mansion is a sight to behold, but the real fun is found not far away in the Winmill Carriage Museum.

Some forty coaches, carriages, sleds, phaetons, wagons, surreys, and carts inhabit this space, which paints a fascinating picture of equine conveyances from the days before automobiles took over as the primary transit option.  The carriages on display date from the mid-1800’s through the early 1900’s.  Aside from Tom Thumb’s coach, the collection includes a beautiful caleche loaned by Ms. Winmill to Grace Kelly for use in the film “The Swan,” as well as the ornate carriage in which Ms. Winmill’s remains were carried during her funeral.

The Winmill Carriage Museum was a featured tour during the Carriage Association of America’s 2020 International Carriage Symposium, in which carriage enthusiasts were treated to speeches by 10 renowned carriage experts from all over the world.  The museum was also the site of a concert hosted by the non-profit BENEFIT in December 2020, featuring the Loudoun County High School String Quartet and a host of celebrated local performers to help raise money for charity, with the thought being to find a more remarkable location than peoples’ living rooms to host the performance.