The 21st Century Matriarch

2017 10 IMG_4824.jpg — The gardens at Nemours are very well maintained. While we were there the big pool was being rebuilt; there was a lot of dirt! There are historical gates on the two sides of the house. The bus stops at the British one and across the front of the house is the heavier looking Russian gate.

The view from the front of the house is down hill to the mid-garden structures…female sphinxes on both sides of the porch.

Walking around the house toward the Russian gate, the turtle pond garden can be viewed from ground level.

The weather vane glowed in the afternoon sun.

Looking back to the house walking down into the garden….

2017 10 IMG_4848.jpg — The maple tree lined drive used by the bus that carries everyone between the visitor center and the mansion (no pedestrian entrance or exit).

Many of the sculptures must be reproductions or otherwise very well maintained. The marble ones looked too good to be 1920s vintage.

Structures divide the gardens into ‘rooms’ making the transition to less formality further from the house.

We noticed a bridge by one of the ponds and walked over. The reflections of trees in the pond viewed from the bridge was one of my favorite scenes of the garden.

2017 10 IMG_4882.jpg — There is a temple with a Houdon sculpture of Diana at the far end of garden. We walked toward the road and found the bus to take us back through the security fence to the visitor center.

I had toured Nemours Mansion and Gardens (in Wilmington, Delaware) several times in the past but I had been more than 10 years since the last visit. A lot has changed. The tours are now self-guided and paced rather than guided…but the docents in the mansion are still very knowledgeable and welcome questions. One of the first questions I asked was about the chandeliers. The house used electricity from the beginning for lighting but many of the chandeliers were retrofitted – antiques by the time they were acquired for the house. One of the ones visible from the foyer has perfume bottles that diffused scent from the days it supported candles! There were chandeliers everywhere. Formal rooms, bedroom (my favorite is one with Murano Glass flowers) and handing in the curve of the grand stair case. Now the fixtures have LED bulbs (probably illuminating in a way that does the least damage to textiles and paintings).

The ceilings and upper walls are also worth noticing….lots of variation in plaster and gold leaf.

Everywhere one looks there are things to notice – cork on the kitchen and butler pantry floor, an elaborate leather screen and the powder room.

There is a basement with lots of dark woods with bowling alleys, built in benches around pool tables and A. I. duPont’s home office.

There are paintings of the inhabitants of the house: Jessie Ball duPont that lived in the house longer than anyone; she died in 1970 and the house was open to the house several years later.

The little girl that grew up at Nemours has several portraits as well. The docent commented that the child came back to the house when she was very old and told them that the picture younger version was her favorite picture of herself….but she never liked that dog!

My favorite room in the house is the garden room – windows on 3 sides, black and white tile pattern on the floor, bird cages, and trellis on the walls.

Above the garden room is a terrace entered from Jessie’s sitting room. The terrace is vacant now but had black wicker furniture when the house was occupied. It overlooks a garden with a turtle fountain.