9/23 - Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Staying here an extra day to see Longwood Gardens was well worth it.  The place is extremely beautiful, of course, but also has an interesting history.  It originally belonged to the two Peirce brothers, twins who were both avid botanists.  While they were running a farm on the land beginning around 1700 they started an arboretum which became known as Peirce’s Park.  They turned their park into a venue for entertaining their friends.  When their last heir died around 1900 the place stayed vacant until it was sold in 1905 with the buyer’s intention being to cut the arboretum’s trees for lumber.  Enter Pierre DuPont, fabulously wealthy second cousin of Henry Francis DuPont of Winterthur.  He, too, had inherited the DuPont family’s love of plants and when he heard the trees were going to be cut down he immediately made arrangements to buy the property and timber rights.  He was in time to save all but the first trees which were cut before he stepped in.  He renamed the park Longwood Gardens.

The Peirce brothers (it’s spelled Peirce, not the usual Pierce) built a house there in 1700 which was still serviceable in 1906. Pierre kept the original house but added another wing with a conservatory joining the two sections.  

The original house built by in 1700 by the Peirce brothers.  The original front is now one side.

Peirce-DuPont House.  Original 1700’s Peirce House on the right, DuPont’s addition at the left end with a conservatory and hallway joining the two buildings.  Longwood became Pierre’s country home where he would go on weekends, holidays and whenever he could find the time.  His full-time residence was a suite of rooms in the DuPont Hotel in Wilmington.  He never owned another home.

Pierre wanted to build gardens and a conservatory on his property. He traveled all over to see other grand gardens and gather ideas, twelve times to Europe over his lifetime.  In 1915 he married Alice Belin who joined him in his love for plants and bringing his creation to life.  Not long after they were married he started building the grand conservatory which is the centerpiece of Longwood.

Conservatory from one end.  It’s a gigantic building.

Topiary garden with the conservatory in the background.  The fountain garden is being renovated which is why there’s a piece of yellow equipment sticking up on the left.

Massive old copper beech next to the walkway to the conservatory.

The Italian water garden. Pierre had a lifelong fascination with running water, thus the water garden and the immense fountains next to the conservatory which are being renovated at present.

Conservatory interior.  The hanging ball has plants growing in it but it’s main function is being lit up at night during “Nightscape,” the special evening event which is going on for the next few weeks.

One wall in the orchid room.

One of many stunning orchids.

One of several water lily ponds.

A new leaf unfurling.  It will grow into one of the huge leaves shown above.  

Water lily with striped pads.  

Water lily pad flipped over so people can see its structure underneath.

Huge water lily pads with lotuses in the back.  They are corralled in the center of the pond.  After our experience at our last house where our one lotus rapidly took over the whole pond and would have taken over Weaverville if it could have got out, we’re not surprised these are strongly disciplined.

Pierre loved music and wanted a place where he and his friends could enjoy it so he had a music room built in the conservatory.  He had a pipe organ installed which has been upgraded at least twice.  The one that’s in it now has 10,010 pipes and is the largest Aeolian organ ever constructed in a residential setting. (The conservatory isn’t a residence but it’s not a commercial setting.)

The Longwood Organ.  With four keyboards, foot pedals and stops, there are over 800 individual things the organist has to deal with.  We listened to a demonstration of the organ being played automatically and its sound is phenomenal.  It comes through the fabric walls behind the organ.  The 10,010 pipes are in the room behind the organ in three tiers.  The organ transmits its “instructions” to the pipes electronically so it doesn’t have to sit where it is.  It floats on air like a hovercraft and can be moved anywhere in the room.  The blue screen to the right is called a “visualizer.”  It shows which keys and foot pedals are being played as well as which stops are out.  The stops are set before a piece is played and usually are not changed during the piece.  (They’re the white buttons on the two wings next to the keyboards and the black knobs next to the foot pedals.)  Volume cannot be controlled through the keys like a piano. It is controlled by the “expressors” which are the six large flat pedals at the bottom. This undoubtedly has to be the most complicated and difficult instrument in the world.

This is just one of the banks of pipes behind the fabric walls.  There’s glass in front which interferes with taking a good picture.  Only about 5000 of the 10,010 pipes are visible.  The rest are on the upper tiers.  Opening and closing the wooden slats at the back are how the “expressors” control the volume.

One of the banks of bass pipes.

World-renowned organists give concerts at Longwood.  They also hold international organ competitions.

Pierre and Alice were in their mid-40’s when they married so they didn’t have children.  He was a fantastic philanthropist, eventually giving away over $120 million.  Using 1950 as an example, the equivalent in today’s dollars would be $1.2 billion.  In addition to Longwood which he arranged to be maintained and made available to the public forever, he built hospitals and schools in Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania.  One of the guides today said he didn’t want to charge admission to Longwood…..he said he didn’t need the money…..but he was told he had to for reasons of legal liability.  Another guide said she didn’t know what would have happened to the Delaware school system without the DuPonts and their generosity.  Pierre inherited a lot of his wealth but he also earned a lot more as an entrepreneur and businessman.  He had many business interests, including leading General Motors for 14 years (1915-1929).  He joined with two of his cousins to buy back a controlling interest in the failing DuPont Company to keep it in the family and then the three of them turned it into a tremendously successful corporation by diversifying into chemicals.  He is called the father of the modern corporation.

When Alice died in 1944 Pierre became very concerned about what to do about Longwood and his other philanthropic projects.  He turned Longwood into a non-profit corporation and endowed it with enough money to keep it going.  In addition to the endowment it has income from admission fees, memberships, and profit from the shop and restaurants.  He also set up the Longwood Foundation to manage his other philanthropy.  He was busy giving things away up until his unexpected death from a ruptured aorta. 

This is the end of our sight-seeing.  Tomorrow for sure we start out for home with the intention of spending the night in Natural Bridge, Virginia.  We’ll make it the rest of the way on Friday.