Nemours Mansion is an estate owned by Alfred DuPont who was an influential member of the DuPont Company. It is considered to be the grandest residence ever constructed in Wilmington, Delaware with a 300-acre of space.
The mansion has 5 floors (only 3 floors were currently accessible to the public when we were there), encompassing 47,000 sq. feet with one full acre under a roof!
Nemours Mansion was created by Alfred DuPont as a gift for his 2nd wife, Alicia in 1909-10 and got its name from DuPont's great, great grandfather, - Pierre Samuel DuPont de Nemours, - a French writer, publisher, economist and government official of France.
Furnishings consist of eclectic collection of fine European, American and rare 18th-century French furniture, tapestries and outstanding works of art.
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| The Long Walk |
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| At the sunken gardens |
The gardens remained as the finest example in North America of a formal French garden which are exquisitely landscaped with pools, fountains and surrounded by natural woodlands. The grounds were inspired by Versailles in France covering 222-acres of lands.
Both the mansion and the gardens were renovated and restored and re opened on May 1, 2008 with a $39 million budget in a 3-year timeline renovation.
So far, basing on our experience during our visit, this is one of the mansion tours that allows photography inside and outdoors! Self-guided tours are always offered with some of the staff standing by for any further answer about any questions people would like to ask. At that moment, there were no guided tours available as we heard they were having a transition stage with their management.
