Nemours Mansion and Gardens, Wilmington, DE - Wilmington, Delaware Alfred du Pont's French Estate on The Brandywine Open to Visitors

The entry to the Nemours Mansion and Gardens, Wilmington, DE, is located at the intersection of Route 141 and Alapocas Road, not far from Exit 8 off of I-95, in the Brandywine Valley. On May of 2008, it reopened to the public after a 3-year, $39 million restoration.

This site is home to North America's largest French Gardens, which are modeled after the gardens at Versailles. The house itself dates back to 1910, when it was built by Alfred I. du Pont to serve as home to the du Pont family. Its 5 floors are split into 70 rooms that fill 47,000 sq. ft.

The building's design is the brainchild of the same people who designed the New York Public Library. The layout inside is highly symmetrical in nature. The structures and its environs are a lavish memorial to the French heritage of the du Pont family.

It is situated amidst the gardens and greenery of the 222-acre tract of land that remains of what was once a 300-acre du Pont family estate. Among the features on the grounds is the 1 acre long, 800,000 gallon reflecting pool between the mansion and the so called Temple of Love.

The other part of the site was donated for the construction of the Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children.

Fox, deer and a variety of birds, including several hawks, inhabit the property and its surroundings.

Nemours Mansion and Garden, Wilmington, DE, is open to visitors from May through December. Tours are given to small groups and last for a minimum of 2 hours.

Antique furniture, fine art work, rare rugs and tapestries are just some of the items that will be seen inside the 3 floors that are visited within the French chateau-style building that fills an acre of space in all.

A bus takes visitors though the gardens and the grounds and terminates the trip with a display of antique cars.

It is recommended that all visitors reserve in advance of their visit. Children under 12 are not permitted.

Nemours Mansion and Gardens, Wilmington, DE, has a small visitors' center where tours begin with the viewing of a short film about the history of the du Pont family, the closest thing to royalty in the State of Delaware, a fact that is only borne out by this family home.

The name Nemours was selected by Alfred I. du Pont to honor the town of his ancestor Samuel du Pont, a member of the Estates General there in 1789.

There is parking at the visitors' center, from where the shuttle bus ferries visitors to the actual mansion and to where it returns them at the end of a tour.

There are no picnic areas or restaurant services of any type at the facility.