Water Tower

Water Tower. . , Standing nearly 90 feet tall, this fanciful stone structure resembles a fairy tale castle. It's really a water tower, built to hold 18,000 gallons for bathing, cooking and cleaning in the mansion. It's design harkened back to centuries-old European castles. The tower's Seth Thomas clock, installed in 1919, chimed to tell the hour. No longer in use, the tower has become a symbol of hope and courage for patients in Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children., Between the base of the Water Tower and the Horseshoe Fountain extends the tapis vert ("green carpet"), a sloping lawn lined with boxwood plants and bordered by rows of juniper trees. To the east, the large open field provided a place where the duPonts shot traps.,

A mile-long drive [to the Mansion] forms an unrivaled approach, besides foreshadowing the uncommon immensity of the place. when near the end of this preliminary journey, one's attention is caught and held by the lofty water Tower, which, with its impression of a French chalet, lends a strikingly picturesque note to the sweeping landscape. , , "Mr. Alfred I. duPont's Nemours at Wilmington, Delaware," The Spur, Juen 15, 1914

, [Captions:] , Dated "middle Feb. 1910," this is the only known photograph showing the construction of Nemours Estate's Water Tower, surrounded by scaffolding, visible on the right edge of the image. The view is looking toward the rear of the Mansion, with the Staff Wing jutting out laterally. An extension was added to the Servant's Wing around 1920. (Mansion Const. c1910-12), Viewing the Water Tower from Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, it's easy to imagine it as the castle of Rapunzel or another storybook character. , Photograph © by Cynthia Brodaway, 2006.