Point Breeze

Point Breeze. Estate of Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844). The land at the confluence of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River was once part of a vast estate created by Joseph Bonaparte, elder brother of Napoleon. During Napoleon's brief reign as Emperor of France, Joseph was appointed King of Naples and then King of Spain. After Napoleon's final defeat by the English, Joseph Bonaparte left Europe. In 1816 he purchased a large tract known as Point Breeze at the edge of the village of Bordentown. The Bordentown location afforded easy river access to Philadelphia and proximity to major roads. Over the next twenty years, the estate grew to more than 1,800 acres with a mile of frontage along Crosswicks Creek., Bonaparte had a keen interest in garden design and transformed his property into one of America's first "romantic" gardens in the French style. This picturesque style of landscape skillfully blended natural and manmade features to create pleasing vistas. Twelve miles of bridle trails and carriage drives crisscrossed the native forest. Visitors were dazzled by the artfully placed statuary, gazebos, deer preserve, aviary, and large manmade lake with swans, landscaped islands, and fanciful boats., Bonaparte built a spacious, magnificently decorated home on a promontory with panoramic views of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River. The mansion contained the country's finest collection of European art and the largest private library. Bonaparte entertained a steady stream of visitors including many artists, who came to admire his home, art collections and gardens. The estate included auxiliary buildings and housing for servants, farmers and gardeners. Bonaparte built a three-story lake house for his younger daughter, Princess Zénaïde and her husband Prince Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, an accomplished ornithologist and naturalist., The property was known locally as Bonaparte's Park, when fire engulfed the mansion in 1820, nearly all the contents were saved by townspeople who came to help. Bonaparte built his second manor house nearer the turnpike to New York, or today's Park Street. Bonaparte's dream landscape was short lived; he returned to Europe in 1839 and died in Italy in 1844. He is buried in Napoleon's magnificent tomb at Les Invalides in Paris., He bequeathed Point Breeze to his grandson, who sold the estate's lands and furnishings in 1847. The new owner demolished Bonaparte's manor house and in 1850 built a new home in the fashionable Italianate style. This house lavishly remodeled in the early twentieth century, was destroyed by fire in the 1980s. The property is now owned by a Catholic missionary order. Only one building remains from the Bonaparte era. Point Breeze is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.