Nemours Estate, Wilmington (must see)

The Nemours Estate is a 300-acre (120 ha) country estate with jardin à la française formal gardens and a French neoclassical mansion. Built to resemble a French château, its 105 rooms on five floors occupy nearly 47,000 sq ft (4,400 m2). It shares the grounds at 1600 Rockland Road with the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, and both are owned by the Nemours Foundation.

Nemours was created by Alfred I. du Pont in 1909–10 as a gift for his second wife, Alicia. It was named for the north-central French town of Nemours, which was affiliated with his great-great-grandfather, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours. Carrère and Hastings designed the mansion, which is in the Louis XVI style of French architecture.

The house contains rare 18th-century French furniture and an eclectic collection of notable antiques, works of art and tapestries. Artworks range from 16th-century religious works to paintings by the European masters to early works by Americans Frederic Remington and Sidney Lawrence.

Of particular interest is a rare Louis XVI musical clock, circa 1785, by David Roentgen and Peter Kinzing, which plays four tunes on a dulcimer and pipe organ. Another clock at the mansion with a connection to French royalty is one made for Marie Antoinette, which she never received.

The mansion also has a chair from the 1937 coronation of King George VI, an event which was attended by Alfred I. du Pont's third wife Jessie, and a chair from Independence Hall. Alfred I. du Pont's own portrait is also in the mansion.