Gibraltar

Gibraltar. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places ~ 1998. In 1844, John Rodney Brinkle, grandnephew of Delaware patriot Caesar Rodney, built the Italianate core of this Brandywine granite home, named for the high, prominent rocky outcropping upon which it sits. In 1909, Hugh Rodney Sharp (1880-1968) and his wife Isabella Mathieu du Pont (1882-1946) purchased and greatly expanded Gibraltar., Marian Cruger Coffin (1876-1957), a pioneering woman in the field of landscape architecture, designed the formal gardens on the property and oversaw their installation between 1916 and 1923. She was responsible for many other well-known gardens and designed landscapes throughout the East Coast, including the nearby gardens of Winterthur and Mt. Cuba, and the campus of the University of Delaware., Hugh Rodney Sharp was Delaware's preeminent preservationist, restoring the Historic Houses of Odessa, Old Town Hall and the Academy of Medicine in Wilmington, and many others. His extensive philanthropy benefited many local cultural and educational institutions, particularly the University of Delaware. In 1998, Gibraltar was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.