Nemours: A Portrait of Alfred I. duPont's Home

by Dwight Young, Grace Gary, Cotton Coulson (Photographer)

One of America’s greatest houses, the unequaled home of Gilded Age philanthropist Alfred I. duPont, has been newly restored to national acclaim. Nemours Mansion and Gardens is the 222-acre estate and onetime home of Alfred I. duPont-photographer, manufacturer, musician, politician, banker, inventor, suffragist, newspaper owner, businessman, and philanthropist. Designed and built in the Louis XIV style in 1909 by Carrere and Hastings, it is one of the largest and most opulent houses in America, to be compared only with the likes of the Biltmore Estate, the White House, The Breakers, and Hearst Castle. With seventy rooms spread out over 46,000 square feet, it is capacious, yet an intimacy of detail and graciousness of proportion give the visitor a feeling of serenity and a special sense of place that is unique to Nemours. Newly and painstakingly renovated, the house-now a museum that can be toured-glows with the finish of its original splendor, captured at long last in a volume that sumptuously reflects the magnificence of a masterpiece.     

308 pages, Hardcover

First published October 11, 2011

Reviews

[Lenita · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting read. I didn't know much about the duPont family beyond the rumor that A.I. duPont hospital was created due to children born in the family that were disabled because of inbreeding. This book has me interested in learning more about the duPonts.

[Helen Meuser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book