Longwood Gardens, an approximately 1,100-acre botanical garden in southern Chester County, stretches along nearby Brandywine in northern Delaware to 505 acres of rolling woods and farmlands and the estate of Granogue, a hilltop stone mansion. I agree to obtain
Granogue was the home of Irénée “Brip” du Pont Jr., an engineering executive who died on January 16 at the age of 103, and heir to a munitions and chemical company fortune.
“There are no concrete plans yet, other than preserving the 505 acres of land and making it available for public enjoyment,” said Ben du Pont, Irene’s cousin. Terms of the acquisition and a schedule for opening to visitors were not disclosed.
In the year ending September 30, 1.6 million people visited the Route 1 gardens, making them one of the state’s most popular tourist destinations, Longwood said.
The steep slopes of Granogue, which includes vast oak and beech trees, stone water towers and ponds, paved and unpaved roads and, most recently, at least two farms with grazing cattle and planted with corn and soybeans. The undulating land of is located to the west across the Brandywine River. The 1,300-acre wooded expanse of First State National Historical Park. The property is north of Brandywine Creek State Park in Delaware.
Neighborhoods and neighborhoods along the curve of Delaware and Pennsylvania are known locally as “Chateau Country” because of the prominent several former estates built with profits from the family-founded DuPont munitions and chemical empire. ” is known as The Hagley Industrial Museum, Bellevue Provincial Park, Nemours Children’s Hospital and Nemours House, the Cuban Native Botanical Center, the Winterthur Museum, the Gardens and Library, the Branwyn House, and the Longwood Gardens themselves are all former properties of the Dupont family.
The castle-like stone Granogue House has original murals by Maxfield Parish and was built by Irénée du Pont Sr. His father and uncle reorganized the family’s explosives business into a giant DuPont chemical plant in the early 1900s. DuPont became the world’s most valuable company by the 1950s.
The family’s holdings were diluted by the 1970s, but members remained on the board for some time thereafter. DuPont has since added or split off a number of business units, losing its former dominant size.
Young Irene was an MIT-trained engineer, worked as an executive at DuPont, played a leading role in the founding and expansion of Wilmington College, and advocated for Iowans during the 1988 Republican presidential nomination. I introduced myself as Ernie. A cousin, Delaware Governor Pierre S. Dupont.
Over the years, Granogue has hosted events such as Boy Scout campolies, charities and political fundraising.
Senator Chris Coons (D., Delaware) said DuPont told visitors that they didn’t choose to be born owners of the property, but thought it was a public trust that they wanted to save from development. I said I told you
The family will continue to live in the house on the property for the foreseeable future.
The family descended from Elutaire Irénée du Pont de Nemours, who, at the suggestion of his friend Thomas Jefferson, built a pioneering gunpowder factory on the Brandywine River.