Gozaic of the Week: Nemours Mansion & Gardens in Wilmington, Delaware

The Nemours Estate was built in 1910 for Alfred duPont, a great American financier, industrialist and philanthropist. duPont named the estate Nemours, after the French town that his great-great-grandfather represented in the French Estates General. While looking to the past and his ancestors for inspiration, duPont also ensured that his new home was thoroughly modern by incorporating the latest technology and many of his own inventions.

Grand Architecture, Art, Antiques and Gardens
Nemours Mansion is one of the grandest buildings ever constructed in Delaware and includes the largest formal French garden in North America. Renowned architects Carrere and Hastings, who were also the designers for the New York Public Library, New York City’s Frick Mansion and Whitehall, the Henry Flagler Mansion in Palm Beach, designed this “house.”

The mansion is presented as a home, not a museum. It contains more than 70 rooms spread throughout more than five floors occupying nearly 47,000 square feet and is fully one acre under one roof. Its unique furnishings include rare French 18th-century furniture, and a stunning collection of art. Paintings in the collection are by artists including J.M.W. Turner, James Peale, Charles Willson Peale, Pieter Bruegel the Younger and Frederic Remington. Decorative objects are by Tiffany, Limoges, Wedgwood, Sevres and Royal Crown Derby.

The revitalized gardens closely follow the model of the Petit Trianon at Versailles. At Nemours, the spectacular statue "Achievement" has been placed at the garden’s center. Designed by French artist Henri Crenier, it looms over the maze garden on an elevated marble pedestal vase. Covered in 23-karat gold leaf, this magnificent sculpture stands as the inspired centerpiece of the Nemours vista.

The original estate was self-sufficient, with orchards, vegetable gardens, a dairy herd, beef cattle, greenhouses, a power plant and even ice-cream making machines.

duPont's philosophy was one of kindness, fairness and responsibility. He believed that “it is the duty of everyone in the world to do what is in his power to alleviate human suffering.” The charitable trust established through his will became the Nemours Foundation and continues to improve the lives of children to this day. He asked that Nemours Mansion & Gardens be preserved and improved upon for the pleasure of the viewing public.

Tours
Following a three year, $39 million restoration, Nemours reopened in 2008. Two-hour tours for individuals are offered May through December and include a guided tour through three floors of the mansion and a bus tour through the gardens. Reservations are recommended.

If you wish to spend a few days exploring historic Wilmington and the Brandywine Valley, the National Trust for Historic Preservation offers a guided group tour from September 11-15, 2010. An architectural historian will lead private visits of Nemours Mansion & Gardens, N.C. Wyeth House & Studio with the artist’s great granddaughter, Winterthur Museum and restored Read House in New Castle. Accommodations are at the elegant Hotel du Pont.

Have you visited Nemours Mansion & Gardens? Please share your review and photos on Gozaic. Nemours Mansion & Gardens and the Wilmington and Brandywine Valley in Delaware are Gozaic partners.

Gozaic (go-ZAY-ik). Noun. 1) The name of a website, Gozaic.com. 2) The fusion of “go,” for travel and the mosaic of heritage and culture. 3) The mosaic of images to illustrate the dimensions of a featured heritage or cultural destination.

Photos courtesy of Grace Gary, Cotton Coulson & Sisse Brimberg.