Greenhouse Complex

Greenhouse Complex. Built 1913-1981. , Knowing that his wife, Alicia, liked "old-fashioned flowers," Alfred I. duPont ordered two greenhouses from the Hitchings Company in 1913. Alicia used them to raise a variety of flowers, including gardenias, carnations, primroses, orchids, violets, dahlias and her special favorite, scarlet sage, which as her husband noted, "she likes to [start] in the green House so that we can have it outside as as long as possible" (Alfred I. duPont to William Manda, January 15, 1919)., Mr. duPont later installed more greenhouses to raise winter vegetables, flowers for cutting, and bedding-plants for the estate's gardens. By 1926, the greenhouse complex comprised 11 buildings, totaling 7,800 square feet., By the 1960s, however, when it became expensive to heat and maintain the greenhouses, they fell into disuse. In 1981, after Nemours Estate opened for public tours, a new, more cost-efficient one was built. It is used to store plants during the winter, and to start canna bulbs for spring planting.,

I am very anxious to have a fine display of chrysanthemums this autumn, and would like them to be as handsome as the ones we had last year. I would like to have the same greenhouse, the one without any benches in it, filled with them, as the different shades of lavender, yellow, white, and red, were most attractive there last week. I have also in mind the carnations for next winter… and I want to have a fine lot of gloxinias. Do you have any gloxinias? If so, will you send me a list of what you have and their prices, as I am much interested in these plants…I [also] like both the double and single violets. , , Alicia duPont to William Manda, July 16, 1915

, [Captions:] , As this circa 1920 photograph of the Conservatory indicates, Alicia duPont relied on Nemours Estate's greenhouses to provide fresh-cut flowers for this and other rooms throughout the mansion. Jessie duPont continued this tradition and also had flowers from Nemours sent down to decorate rooms in Epping Forest., This circa 1921 image of the greenhouse complex shows how it looked before its "Palm House" vestibule was added.