Live Like a du Pont in Wilmington for $5.5M

900 OId Kennett Rd., Wilmington, Del. 19807 | Photos and TREND images by Kelli Wilke Photography via Long & Foster Real Estate

We usually don’t venture beyond Southeastern Pennsylvania in search of outstanding homes. But every so often, an outstanding home within the Philadelphia region but outside the five counties comes to our attention.

This magnificent estate in Wilmington’s tony northwest suburbs is one of those.

Located in the middle of a 550-acre nature preserve, “Stonehouse” is one of the finest mansions in Wilmington’s “chateau country.” The French Provincial home was built to last in 1939 by socialite Margaretta “Gret” du Pont and her husband, Crawford “Greenie” Greenewalt, who served as a president of the DuPont company for 14 years. Greenewalt’s concern for safety, strength and durability led him to construct this home out of steel and concrete: each floor has a 12-inch-thick concrete base, and even the walk-up attic has concrete stairs and floors.

The home had plenty of room for the growing Greenewalt-du Pont family, and the estate — most of which the family donated to the Delaware Nature Society as a preserve in perpetuity — had plenty of land for the couple to pursue their interests. Greenewalt loved photography and the study of birds, while du Pont was an avid gardener.

Over the decades, the home has been lovingly maintained, and its current owners have updated it to accommodate changing tastes and lifestyles. It has plenty of room for entertaining parties small and large, like the ones du Pont hosted when she lived there. There’s a spacious drawing room large enough to accommodate a grand piano, an opulent formal dining room, and a large chef’s kitchen with wine storage, butler’s pantry and wet bar.

For more intimate relaxation, Greenewalt’s workroom and darkroom in the home’s west wing has been converted to a comfortable family room, and for those even more intimate moments, the master bedroom boasts silk moiré wallcoverings, a wet bar, a morning kitchen, a Juliet balcony and a sitting room whose fireplace is decorated with a motif carved by Irene Sophie du Pont, great-granddaughter of DuPont founder Éluthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours.

Down in the basement is a billiard room, game arcade, theater, and lounge area with stained-glass ceiling. There’s also an English-style pub that seats six and features carved cherry wood imported from Manchester.

For outdoor entertaining, the 22.15-acre estate offers several different settings, including a manicured English boxwood garden and a terrace accessed from a glassed-in English conservatory. And when the weather warms up, there’s a glamorous infinity pool with water slide, a hot tub and a striking pool house with a bar, family room, and full kitchen. Its bathroom is decorated in colorful tile with stone vessel sinks, and it has a laundry room of its own.

There’s also an attached two-car garage and a newer six-car garage with heated floor. Above the newer garage is a two-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse whose deck offers sweeping views of the property, and there’s also a three-bedroom caretaker’s home with four-car garage on the property.

With all this room and so many features, dare we suggest that this magnificent home is a bargain at the asking price?

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 9

BATHS: 7 full, 5 half

SQUARE FEET: 21,500 (main home only)

SALE PRICE: $5,500,000

900 Old Kennett Road, Wilmington, Del. 19807 [Stephen Mottola | Long & Foster/Christie’s International Real Estate]