Nine Ways to Explore Nemours Estate in Wilmington, Delaware

| | | | |

Nicknamed the “Versailles of the Brandywine Valley”, Nemours Estate is the 77 room mansion that Alfred I. duPont built for his second wife, Alicia, between 1909-1910. Nemours is also home to the largest French formal garden in North America. (Guests can learn all about the 10 design elements of a French garden on the tram tour). Alfred I. duPont was the great grandson of E. I. du Pont, founder of the DuPont Company, which began in Wilmington in the early 1800s.

The family collected artwork, furniture, and experiments in advancements in technology on display throughout the mansion, which welcomes guests to take self guided tours of all three floors. There are docents available throughout each floor to answer questions and share anecdotes about the du Pont family.

After duPont’s death in 1935 and per his will, a charitable trust was established to create a network of health care services and hospitals for children. The first Institute opened in Wilmington in 1940 and today there are dozens of Nemours Children’s Health facilities from Pennsylvania to Florida. 

duPont also wanted to preserve his estate for the public to enjoy. Nemours Estate opened to the public in  1977. The original estate was over 3,000 acres, but today encompasses 300 acres, divided into three areas: the hospital and grounds, the mansion and gardens, and natural woodlands. The property includes seven interconnected ponds and over 200 acres of gardens.

Nemours continues to be a stunningly beautiful estate that welcomes visitors from around the world each year to explore the grounds, mansion, carriage house, and learn all about the Wilmington area and the duPont family. And if you’re looking for more adventures in Wilmington, check out our full City Guide here. 

Note for 2024: The Sunken Gardens are under restoration. When we visited in April of 2024, the fountains had not been filled for the season (but we hear they are beautiful when they are filled). 

Travel Tips:

  • Nemours Estate is typical open from early April through the end of December, 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 nursing 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 at the Welcome Center. The worksheets change throughout the year, but when we visited there was an Outdoor Art sheet (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.
  • 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 3:30pm. Tram times are subject to change so it’s best to check timing when arriving on property. A good map of the estate is here.

Nine Things for Kids to Do at Nemours:

  1. Take the Garden Loop tram tour of the property. Tram tours run every hour on weekdays and every 30 minutes on the weekends.The enclosed tram seats approximately 18 people, so be sure to line up by the benches near the 18th century French gates (to the left of the mansion) 5-10 minutes before departure time. 
  2. While on the tram tour, try to count the number of maple trees that line the main entrance (hint: there are close to 100!). Also search for:
    1. Seven gnomes, over 120 years old, hidden throughout the garden (the gardeners move them every week!)
    2. Two cannons from the USS Constitution that duPont bought and had moved to the property. 
    3. The Wren’s Nest, used as a playhouse for children in the 1920s
    4. The original Greenhouse, dating back to 1909, used to grow herbs, shrubs, plants, and flowers for the estate. It’s still in use today!
    5. A display of farm equipment from the 1800s. 
  3. Listen for the 3 bells that chime from the Carillon Tower, built to honor duPont’s parents. The bells, located just outside the estate gates on the hospital campus, ring every 15 minutes, and in celebration of duPont’s birthday on May 12th, play “Happy Birthday”. Members of the duPont family are buried under the tower. 

Would you like to save this?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later.

  1. Peak through the Temple of Love, which displays the 1780 sculpture of Diana the Huntress, to have the best straight lined view to the mansion.
  2. Find four figurines at the corners of the Reflecting Pool, symbolizing the four seasons. The one acre reflecting pool used to be five feet deep and was used for swimming in the summer and as an ice skating rink in the winter by the duPont children. Nowadays, over 150 jets shoot water as high as 12 feet when the pool is filled (from June through September).  
  3. Walk through the Colonnade, built in 1926 to honor duPont’s great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather and then through the Maze Garden. Check out the 12 foot statue of man and woman, covered in real, 23 carat gold leaf. 

  1. Take a hike on Woodland Trails through the hillsides and look out for natural springs and concrete pools.
  2. Tour three floors of the mansion. The 1910, 47,00 square feet mansion has seven bedrooms (each with their own bathroom!). Children will enjoy our version of “I Spy” while touring the mansion- see our version here. Highlights of the mansion that children will enjoy include the bowling alley in the lower level, the dining room, and choosing a favorite bedroom.
  3. Choose a favorite vintage car from the collection of five cars in the Chauffeur’s Garage. The garage was built in 1914, with an addition added a decade later, and was home to duPont’s personal chauffeur and his family. Cars on display include 1951 and 1960 Rolls Royce, a 1933 Buick Coupe, 1921 and 1924 Cadillacs, and even a train table to engage children. 

If you’re looking for more adventures in Wilmington, check out our full City Guide here, and our features of Winterthur, the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science, and Hagley Museum and Library

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

New England based, part high school English teacher, part non profit founder, part road tripper who LOVES hopping in the family SUV to explore America. Our bucket list includes National Parks, MLB stadiums, presidential libraries, and eating wherever the locals eat!

Similar Posts

  • | | | | |

    32 Places to Eat in Connecticut

    Our recent list of 30 Places We Love in Connecticut received some great feedback. We’re glad so many people enjoy (and agreed with) some of our favorite spots. I thought about including some of our favorite places to eat, but decided food needs its own post!

    This is by no means a comprehensive list. Our suggestions below are definitely Fairfield and New County heavy, as that’s our home base. If you’re looking for a larger variety, check out this recent list from Connecticut Magazine. I subscribe to Connecticut magazine and always save this annual issue- so many great suggestions. One of my other favorite guides for dining in Connecticut is CTBites.com. They offer weekly newsletters with updates, special events, and holiday menus. You might also be interested in this guide to eating gluten free in Connecticut and this guide from Mommy Poppins, which includes peanut free spots.

  • | | |

    Food Trail #7: Bakeries in Milford, Connecticut

    Milford, Connecticut, a small city located on the edge of New Haven County along the Coastal Connecticut I95 corridor, is home to over a dozen named beaches (5 are open to the public), a state park, great shopping and restaurant hubs, and plenty of yummy bakeries. For our seventh food trail (check out #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6), we started on the south side and made our way north, stopping at seven bakeries serving up plenty of homemade pastries, desserts, salads, sandwiches, full meals, and drinks. Here are our top picks:

  • | | |

    15 Ways to Explore the Crane Estate on Castle Hill in Ipswich, Massachusetts

    On a recent visit to the North Shore of Massachusetts, we explored one of the most beautiful Gilded Age estates, the Crane Estate, set high on a hill above one of the most beautiful beaches, Crane Beach, in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The estate has been carefully restored and preserved by the Trustees, who oversee more than 100 properties throughout Massachusetts. 

    The Crane Company, founded by Richard Teller Crane, in 1855 was well known for their brass fixtures and bells, most famously used to help build the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  Later, his son, Mr. Richard T. Crane, who focused the company on manufacturing various bathroom fixtures, purchased Castle Hill and began renovating and expanding the property. The Cranes, who were based in Chicago, had summer homes in London, England and Jekyll Island, Georgia. The first home on the Ipswich property was built in 1912 but later torn down as it was properly outfitted to withstand the elements of the nearby ocean. The current estate, with 59 rooms, was built in a timeless English style similar to the Cranes’ London estate and finished in 1929. Over the years, the Cranes restored over 3,500 acres in Essex Bay, Choate Island, and Ipswich. The estate also includes the 700 acre Crane Wildlife Refuge, made up of Castle Neck (which borders Crane Beach), five islands, and salt marshes.

  • | | | | |

    Mount Vernon in Virginia

    Mount Vernon, home to George and Martha Washington and their family, is the most popular home in America- over one million people visit each year. The home, located twenty minutes outside downtown Washington DC in Mount Vernon, Virginia, was originally a 8,000 complex with five farms: Dogue Run, Muddy Hole, River, Union, and Mansion House Farms. Washington also built a gristmill and distillery on the property, which is on the banks of the Potomac River, with Maryland on the other side of the river.  Washington took possession of the home in 1739 and completed a major renovation by 1787.  After George and Martha died in 1779 and 1802 respectively, the home was passed on to family until 1860, when the home was open to the public.  The now 50 acre site includes over two dozen areas to explore. We’ve included ten spots children will most enjoy.

  • | |

    Playing “I Spy” at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington DC

    The sixth largest cathedral in the world, the Cathedral of Saint Peter and St. Paul, more popularly known as the Washington National Cathedral, took almost an entire century to complete. Started in 1907, there were three different architects who helped design and execute the building of the 530 long foot cathedral, with a central tower…

  • | | | | | | | | |

    10 Things to Do with Kids in Sioux Falls, SD

    Our recent visit to Sioux Falls, the largest city (population wise) in South Dakota, was suppose to be a quick overnight, with dinner by the famous falls. But the more we researched, the list of places we “had” to visit grew longer and the more we crowdsourced, the list of places where we “needed” to dine for a meal or special treat grew larger. We ended up spending almost three full days of fun in the southeastern part of South Dakota and having so much fun!

    We loved Sioux Falls for all the public parks, green spaces, and walking and biking trails; the rich history and preserved historic homes and buildings open to the public; the daily calendar of events tailored to families at the zoo and science center and butterfly garden and aquarium; and the kind, friendly people who ALWAYS stopped to let the pedestrian tourists cross the street (such a pedestrian friendly city- motorists actually do stop!) and who always had a tip about getting around road work, a recommendation for the best ice cream flavor, and a personal story of hometown pride.

6 Comments

  2. Nemours Estate looks like such a great place to plan a family visit, can’t believe I have never heard of it before! My kids would never miss the tram tour and I would really like to have a look at that vintage car collection! Thanks for the inspiration

    Reply

  5. I love visiting different historic homes, this one looks beautiful! I don’t live far from here so would love to do a day trip to Philadelphia soon and make this a stop along the way. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *