Isabella du Pont Sharp's Meown Farm, completed ca. 1930, was built to stable her horses and entertain friends. [more]

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March 2010 » book review

Sphere of Influence

The Du Ponts: Houses and Gardens in the Brandywine, 1900-1951
by Maggie Lidz
Acanthus Press, LLC, New York, NY; 2009
228 pages; clothbound; approximately 300 color and duotone photos; $65
ISBN 978-0-926494-69-5

Reviewed by Annabel Hsin

Few families in American history have had the industrial and architectural influence of the du Ponts, founders of the DuPont Company. In 1802, Eleuthére Irénée was one of the first du Ponts from France to settle on the banks of the Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, DE, where he established a gunpowder mill. He chose the remote location to lessen the impact of possible industrial accidents – E. I. du Pont's father and wife never recovered from accidental blasts, and his youngest son and most gifted grandnephew was killed by one. To minimize individual monetary loss, the du Ponts practiced communal property sharing. This tradition continued with E. I. du Pont's son, Henry, who strictly enforced communalism. While the practice had many advantages, such as the ability to feed multiple families with one farm and strong community ties with close household groupings, individual family members did not experience the pride of property ownership.

As the du Ponts grew wealthy and became more Americanized during the 19th century, they looked to their French heritage for a sense of history – full-sized paintings were copied from ancestral portrait miniatures and the names Pierre, Irénée, Eleuthera and Victorine were consistently passed down through generations. Architecturally, the du Ponts also favored French-styled casement windows, tiled roofs and stuccoed walls. Many American-born du Ponts visited Bois-des-Fossés, a country house in France where the family's early generations lived before emigrating. New homes were built in the Brandywine Valley, while existing houses were expanded during this time – their styles directly influenced by the du Ponts' travels.

By 1900 – 100 years after the family arrived in America – 14 family houses were located within a few miles of the DuPont Mills: Eleutherian Mills, Upper Louviers, Lower Louviers, Nemours, Hagley, Hagley House, Winterthur, Rencourt, Pelleport, Rokeby, Swamp Hall, Saint Amour, Goodstay and Vireaux. These homes, along with many other 20th-century residences, are highlighted in Winterthur Museum estate historian Maggie Lidz' latest book, The Du Ponts: Houses and Gardens in the Brandywine, 1900-1951.

The monograph features 25 chapters on individual du Pont houses, farms and gardens, arranged by when the property was built or came under the family's ownership. Each section includes historic images, many culled from private archives and family albums, and an introduction to the property's architectural aspects. Lidz' historical background research is largely based on the du Pont family manuscript collection at Hagley Museum, one of the best family collections in America. There is also a house portfolio of over 40 properties that are either private residences or have since been demolished. The portfolio includes an image of each property (with the exception of two residences), architect information, current status and a brief description – which du Pont occupied the property and what architectural changes were made.

The beginning of the 20th century also marked the end of the du Ponts' communal ownership practice. In 1902 the company was bought out by three du Pont cousins, Alfred I., T. Coleman and Pierre Samuel II, who reshaped the enterprise into one of the century's most successful international corporations – mostly by selling superfluous residential and agricultural real estate.

Meanwhile, the cousins invested privately in real estate, some of it former company land. Alfred acquired 400 acres for his new country estate, Nemours. He commissioned John Carrère and Thomas Hastings to build the French-style mansion, where he lived with his second wife, Alicia. Coleman purchased a large tract of land west of Wilmington, where he and his wife could farm and garden. They built a weekend and summer house on the land and called it Old Mill. Pierre bought a Pennsylvania Quaker farm, which he later named Longwood and doubled in size. These were the first du Pont family properties built in the new century.

When the last mill in the Brandywine Valley stopped running in the early 1920s, its houses and properties were sold. Du Pont family members had the first option to purchase and many of them took advantage of the opportunity to own and subsequently remodel these residences. Additions and decorations from the late-1800s were removed to emphasize original façades. These homes, mainly Lower Louviers and Eleutherian Mills, soon replaced Bois-des-Fossés as the locus of the family's history.

A decade later, Wilmington saw a spike in large country estates; an overwhelming majority of them were built and owned by the du Ponts. During this period, the family hired nationally known architects such as Harrie T. Lindeberg, Mellor, Meigs & Howe and R. Brognard Okie – the latter was responsible for six houses between 1926 and 1940. And a local firm, founded by Victorine du Pont Homsey and her husband Samuel Eldon Homsey, was also involved with many du Pont houses. Their designs are still present at Mt. Cuba, Longwood and Winterthur, and also at smaller residences, including Lower Louviers, Brookdale Farm, Meown Farm, Applecross and the Homseys' own residence, Tulip Hollow.

While several du Pont properties are currently well-known museums and public spaces (with their own monographs), there are many others worth acknowledging for their contribution to America's architectural history. George A. Weymouth, third-generation grandson of E. I. du Pont and founder of the Brandywine Conservancy, writes in the book's foreword, "With so many [homes] destroyed, Maggie Lidz' book not only documents my family's varied architectural contribution to the Brandywine River Valley but also reveals how that contribution expresses our industrial, economic, and personal history. Her book adds considerably to our greater understanding of the 20th century."  

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