Playing “I Spy” While Touring Nemours Estate in Wilmington, Delaware

This past spring, we enjoyed a few days exploring Wilmington, Delaware’s largest city located about two hours south of New York City and two hours north of Washington D.C. One of the highlights of our visit was touring Nemours Estate, and this week on the blog, we’re focusing on the tour of the actual Nemours mansion. You can read about ALL the things to do throughout the Nemours property in this post). 

Built by Alfred I. duPont, the great grandson of DuPont Company founder E.I. duPont,  for his second wife, Alicia, in the early 1900s, Nemours Estate, dubbed the “Versailles of the Brandywine Valley”, includes a 77 room mansion and the largest French formal garden in America. After duPont’s death, a charitable trust was established which led to the creation of the Nemours Children’s Health network of healthcare facilities. The trust also preserved the estate, which opened to the public in 1977.   

Today, the property encompasses 300 acres that are home to the Nemours Children’s Hospital, the 47,000 square foot Nemours mansion and over 200 acres of gardens (with seven interconnecting ponds), and natural woodlands. Visitors are welcome to walk the trails, explore the gardens, and tour the estate and carriage house, which are filled with artwork and furniture that the duPont family collected. Three floors of the mansion (which boasts seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms!) are open to the public for self guided tours. Friendly docents are available on each floor to share stories about the Du Pont family and their time on the Estate.

Travel Tips:

• Nemours is open from April 1st through December 31st, Tuesday through Sunday from 10am-5pm. Get up to date information on hours and admissions here. Kids ages five and under are free. 
• Note: All buildings close at 4:30pm and the grounds stay open until 5pm.
• Plenty of free parking in front of the ticket office. The Estate is located on the same campus as the Children’s Museum so be sure to follow signs for Estate parking and use the 1600 Rockland Road address for GPS.
• Restrooms are located by the ticket office, inside the house, and in a building near
• Wear sneakers to explore the grounds and bring a stroller for the toddler crew (but leave it outside of the main house). There are also baby changing and breast feeding areas inside the mansion.
• There are no dining facilities on site, but guests are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy throughout the grounds.(No picnic tables available). 
• Make sure kids grab scavenger hunt worksheets: Outdoor Art (with an art vocabulary list on the back), Leaf Spotter Challenge (with descriptions of parts of a leaf) and Colors in the Garden (with hints about various colors) and mindfulness activity sheets at the Welcome Center.
• Plan on 3-4 hours to fully explore the estate, gardens, and take the tram tour. We recommend arriving before noon, as all buildings close at 4:30pm and the last tram tour is 3pm (week days) and 3:30pm (weekends). A good map of the estate property and mansion is here.

Playing “I Spy” While Touring Nemours Estate:

1. A 1908 Steinway piano (that is still used for special events at the mansion!) in the Music Room (Main Floor)
2. Fully set table (check out the egg display) in the Dining Room (Main Floor)
3. The collection of books in the Library (Main Floor)
4. The servants’ living room (Lower Level)
5. The boilers (check out the size!) in the Boiler Room (Lower Level)
6. Ice making machines (so many coolers!) in the Ice Making Room (Lower Level)

7. The “light bath” and exercise machines in the Exercise Room (Lower Level)
8. The 24 foot long shuffleboard and 2 lane bowling alley (Lower Level)
9. The Cameron Billiards table (no pocket nets!) (Lower Level)
10. Check for signs of dogs throughout the mansion- The Du Ponts had several rescue dogs over the years, including Mummy, Yip, and Monty.
11. Choose a favorite bedroom from the seven on display and check out the modern amenities (for the 19th century) in the bathrooms, including ear trumpets and violet ray apparatuses,.
12. Pick a favorite vintage car in the Chauffeur’s Garage from the duPont’s collection, including Rolls Royces, Buick Coupes, and Cadillacs. 

Looking for other ways to explore the Nemours property? See our full feature here. And if you’re in Wilmington, check out our features of Winterthur, the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science, Hagley Museum and Gardens, and our full Wilmington, Delaware City Guide. And follow along on our adventures on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and X.

Disclosure: Our family was given a media pass to explore Nemours Estate. All opinions expressed are my own.