A few years ago, I spent a wonderful weekend in the Mid-Atlantic’s Brandywine Valley, touring magnificent estates, gardens, art museums, historic villages, stayed at a grand and historic hotel and ate at some great restaurants.
The scenic Brandywine Valley is named after Brandywine Creek which flows from Chester County Pennsylvania, eastward to Wilmington Delaware where it joins the Christina River, which empties to the Delaware River. The valley spreads from Chester County, Pennsylvania west of Philadelphia, to New Castle County and Wilmington, Delaware.
The original inhabitants of the valley were an Algonquin Indian tribe who called themselves Lenape, meaning “common people.” The earliest European settlers to the Brandywine Valley were Swedish and Finnish soldiers who established Fort Christina in Wilmington in 1638. Later the area was settled by English colonists, many of them Quakers, including William Penn. By the early 18th century, the area became the paper milling center of America. In 1777, the Battle of Brandywine near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania had the highest number of troops of any battle during the American Revolutionary War. In 1802, a French émigré and chemist who escaped the French Revolution named Éleuthère Irénée du Pont established black powder mills that later gave rise to the DuPont Company, a major chemical company headquartered in Wilmington. Many of the Gilded Age-era homes and estates of the du Pont family are preserved today and a major tourist attraction for the region.
Much of the beauty of the Brandywine Valley today can be attributed to the Brandywine Conservancy. When the valley was threatened by industrial development in the 1960’s, George Weymouth and other residents took action to protect over 32,000 acres along the river. Today, the Conservancy holds more than 500 conservation easements and has protected nearly 70,000 acres from development.
Wilmington
Conde Nast Traveler named Wilmington one of the 23 Best Places to Go in 2023. We stayed at the magnificent Hotel du Pont in downtown Wilmington. The building, completed in 1913, was once the headquarters of the DuPont Company, and is a landmark example of Italian Renaissance architecture. The interior contains terrazzo floors, European chandeliers and wood carvings. The Gold Ballroom has two twelve-foot high walnut doors engraved with peacocks and urns. The recently restored Green Room, now called Le Cavalier at the Green Room, serves a menu with ‘French classics with modern, unexpected twists.’ Discounted rooms at the Hotel du Pont and other hotels in Wilmington or the Brandywine Valley can be found at Trivago.
Recent efforts have been made to improve Downtown Wilmington. What was once a run down, deserted area is now brimming with new fine dining establishments, bars, coffee shops, music venues and galleries. Bardea, an Italian restaurant, was nominated for the James Beard Award as best new restaurant. The menu at sister restaurant Bardea Steak includes wagyu empanadas, ostrich, a wild boar Cuban sandwich and kangaroo chili. The Chancery Market Food Hall, on the north end of downtown, includes seven food and drink merchants under one roof, ranging from vegan to Indian.
Market Street leads from downtown to the Christina River, and is lined with restaurants, cafes, galleries, the historic Grand Opera House, and the Delaware History Museum. Where Market meets the river, you can walk along Riverwalk, a part of the larger Jack A. Markell Trail. Riverwalk has replaced an old underused, and formerly industrial waterfront with a promenade lined with parks, hotels, restaurants and breweries and cultural venues including the Delaware Children’s Museum and the DuPont Environmental Education Center.
West of downtown is Wilmington’s Little Italy, centered on North Union Street. While not really comparable to Italian communities in larger cities such as New York or San Francisco, Little Italy does have a few home style restaurants, including Mrs. Robino’s, Ristorante Attilio, Rocco Italian Grill and Luigi Vitrone’s.
Another entertainment area in Wilmington is Trolley Square, focused around Trolley Square shopping center. The historic neighborhood has restaurants, bars, coffee shops and retail establishments. Brew Haha, a Delaware coffee chain, has a large, homey store in Trolley Square with both indoor and outdoor seating, and serves good coffee, sandwiches and salads. Nearby is the Delaware Art Museum and adjacent nine-acre Copeland Sculpture Park, and bucolic Rockford Park along Brandywine Creek. The art museum holds a collection of over 12,000 objects, focusing on American art from the 19th through the 21st century, as well as special exhibits.
Historic New Castle
Historic New Castle, south of Wilmington along the Delaware River, was settled by the Dutch West India Company in 1651 on the site of a former aboriginal village. In 1664, the English seized the colony and named it New Castle. New Castle is where William Penn first landed on American soil in 1682, made it a seat of colonial government. Today, the historic center includes cobblestone streets, and 500 historic buildings dating from as early as 1700, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Several of the buildings, including the New Castle Court House, are part of First State National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System. The commercial area is centered on Delaware Street, and includes a number of restaurants and shops. We ate at Jessop’s Tavern, located within a 300 year old building, that serves colonial fare and other dishes.
Gardens and Estates
The Brandywine Valley is perhaps mostly known for its many beautiful estates and gardens. The estates are spectacular any time of year. Spring and summer bring a spectrum of colorful flowers while the autumn brings the warm foliage. During winter, the estates put on elaborate holiday displays and events.
Longwood Gardens – Longwood Gardens, one of the premier gardens in North America, is set on over 1,000 near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The gardens include formal gardens, an 86 acre meadow garden, and a 4.5 acre conservatory containing 4,600 types of plants and trees within 20 interior gardens. The gardens began as a small arboretum built by a Quaker family, and were later purchased and expanded by Pierre S. du Pont. The formal gardens include an Italian water garden, many flower gardens, and a five acre Fountain Garden that combines Italianate ornamentation and French grandeur. The gardens also include the Peirce du Pont house, which was originally built in 1730. During the winter holidays, Longwood puts on a spectacular display of decorated Christmas trees, floral displays and lighting throughout the park. The gardens also include a garden shop, restaurant, café and beer garden.
Nemours Estate – The Nemours Estate has been called America’s “Versailles in the Brandywine Valley” due to its opulent setting with the largest French gardens in North America. The extensive gardens are landscaped with plantings, fountains, pools, a maze garden, carillon tower, and statuary. The estate, named after a town in France, includes a 77 room French neoclassical style mansion that Alfred du Pont built for his second wife. The interior of the home includes 18th century French furniture, antiques, artwork and tapestries. A Chauffeur’s garage includes a collection of vintage automobiles. The estate is is located near the Hagley Museum, off Highway 141.
Hagley Museum and Library – The Hagley Museum sprawls across 234 beautifully landscaped acres along Brandywine Creek. It is located on the west side of Wilmington off Highway The museum is the original headquarters of the DuPont Company’s gunpowder manufacturing site, and location of the family’s ancestral home built in 1802. The museum includes the original home and gardens, a visitor center, and a workers’ village where visitors can watch gunpowder and machinery demonstrations. The beautiful Georgian style home covered in purple wisteria was built by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont in 1803. The home served as the center of family and business life for over a century, and is filled with furnishings and collections of American folk art alongside treasured family pieces. Adjacent the home is the two-acre E.I. du Pont Garden planted with fruit trees, and various flowers including crocuses, hyacinths, tulips and poppy flowers.
Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library – The Winterthur (pronounced winter-tour) estate, once the home of Henry Francis du Pont, houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States, including furniture and decorative arts. The museum has 175 period-room displays with 90,000 objects dating from between 1640 and 1860. The library, open by appointment, holds more than 87,000 rare books and over 800,000 manuscripts and images. The 60 acres of gardens are less formal than the other du Pont estates, and includes natural landscapes and floral species such as rhododendrons, azaleas, lilacs, dogwoods. A tram is available for visitors to tour the gardens between March and December. The estate is located near Greenville, Delaware, on Route 52.
Brandywine River Museum of Art
The Brandywine River Museum of Art, located in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, is housed in a 19th century mill. The museum is renowned for its collection of the Wyeth family of artists, including N.C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth. The Wyeth art focuses on American realist, regional styes with subjects of landscape, people and animals. The museum is located within an attractive setting overlooking Brandywine Creek, and includes a café and gift shop.
