The Delaware Center for Horticulture hosted an event last night which offered the opportunity to visit 2 gardens in the city of Wilmington, plus those on the grounds of the DCH. We started at Goodstay Center, a former duPont home now owned by the University of Delaware and used for events and classes.
Dating from about 1740, the house was purchased by Ellen duPont Meeds in 1923. She later married landscape architect Robert Wheelwright. They designed the garden as a colonial "knot" garden, which is a series of squares. It was restored in the 1990's and above you see the house and a spot where a spring emerges into a ferny area and flows out to the rest of the garden as a stream.
Above you see the former swimming (now reflecting) pool and a garden vista from Gibraltar, which was built in 1844 by John Rodney Brinckle and named after the rocky outcropping on which it sits. It was expanded in 1909 by Hugh Rodney Sharp and his wife, Isabella duPont Sharp, and is across Pennsylvania Avenue from Goodstay. The garden was designed by prominent landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin between 1910 and the 1920's. It has become controversial in recent years as it was first proposed by the owners to be torn down and developed, and saved by being put under the care of Preservation Delaware. They could not find a workable plan for using the house as an inn, and later a plan for offices was developed, all objected to by wealthy neighbors. There is finally a plan to restore the house for a business use, and a group has been formed to take over the gardens from Preservation Delaware, which is more interested in the building than the grounds, although they had done extensive work on the grounds in the past.
Above is a view from inside the walled garden, and the overgrown and neglected mansion, soon to be transformed for an office with a distinguished interior. So cross your fingers and hopefully we will see both a restored garden and mansion in a couple of years!
Comments (1)Subscribe to CommentsComment