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PrintThe Du Ponts: Houses and Gardens in the Brandywine
A new book by Maggie Lidz shows not only the fabulous homes the family built, but also how they lived. These excerpts are but a hint.
(page 7 of 9)
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Family and friends, ca. 1900 | Saint Amour, ca. 1905 |
Saint Amour
1892, renovated ca. 1920, 1934
Residence of Mary Belin du Pont
MARY BELIN DU PONT built Saint Amour after her husband, Lammot, died in a nitroglycerine explosion.… In 1900 the house was chosen by family consensus to host the January 1 reunion that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the du Ponts’ arrival in the United States.... This generation of du Ponts re-created the company housing of the 19th century on a more luxurious scale. In some ways, the clustering was reminiscent of that associated with the Rockefellers in Pocantico Hills, New York; the Pratts in Glen Cove, Long Island; and the Pews on the Main Line outside Philadelphia... Mary Belin du Pont died in 1913, and her son Lammot took over Saint Amour. He enlarged the house and hired Marian Coffin to design a walled formal garden in front.… When family members gathered at Saint Amour on January 1, 1900, to celebrate their first 100 years in America, 14 family houses were located within a three-mile radius: Eight were partnership houses owned by the company, but the communal system [of family ownership], which had survived for a remarkable three generations, was giving way to private ownership.
Page 8: Chevannes
