Return to the Brandywine Valley

The Brandywine Valley remains one of my favorite stomping grounds due to its horticultural and architectural offerings as well as the sheer deliciousness of its name.

Hagley Mills

Though long in love with the luscious Brandywine estates and gardens of Winterthur and Longwood (where I would like to believe I lived during a previous life as a petunia), my visit to the former gunpowder works at Hagley Mill offered a foray into a new sphere of surprises. I had naïvely imagined a single mill house - boy were my expectations topped. Gardener turned gunpowder guru Eleuthère Irénée du Pont founded Hagley after narrowly escaping the Hungry Lady, and I don't mean his wife. Though Monsieur du Pont arrived in the U.S. of A. with the fluttering hopes of tending gentle orchids and peaceful topiaries, he soon observed the unreliability of American gunpowder, something he knew he could improve through European techniques. 

That, at least, is the conventional story. I believe the poor man got so fed up with stupid Américains tumbling over his name that he just started blowing stuff up.

Located along the arboraceous Brandywine River, Hagley provided the perfect location for manufacturing gunpowder for the military during the War of 1812 and to the Union during the Civil War. If Monsieur du Pont's last name sounds familiar, it's for good reason, since his company's innovations in gunpowder were the first in a long line of innovations in many areas.

The First Office

Many of the buildings on the property are built from Brandywine's blue gneiss - a strong rock that could withstand massive explosions.

Workers' homes of Blue Gneiss Stone

Eleutherian Mills, the du Pont family home, whose backyard 
looks directly over the gunpowder works.

The mill is closed in 1921 following the last of a long line of explosions. Now quiet and serene, the site offers a peaceful, otherworldly retreat of Herculean trees, thriving animal denizens such as Canada geese, deer, and beavers, and the bygone beauty of old mills.

Beautiful Gnarls: 350-year-old Osage Orange Tree near Eleutherian Mills

Interspersed with the backdrop of nature's quiet beauty, a plethora of antique equipment, massive gears, and rusty machinery rumbled melodically or lay quietly embedded in the ground. There is something stunning about industrial mixing with nature, as nature is begins reclaim her domain. The innate aesthetic in the circles, repetition, and symmetry of cogs, rivets, and gears provide a a striking contrast with the wildness and vivid colors of nature.

Sojourning in the Brandywine Valley

I spent Saturday night in a dramatic three-story 1860 manor house in the Brandywine Valley!

The Faunbrook Bed and Breakfast is just stunning. It is located on a little winding country road in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and comes out of nowhere as you round a bend. When we pulled up that night in the half-moon driveway, the sight of the lantern light and the zigzagging white lights glimmering through the porch's ornate wrought ironwork made me feel that I was meeting an old Southern matriarch - ancient and imposing yet dazzlingly classy. My mother, on the other hand, whispered "Twilight Zone!" in my ear. Clearly, the house had different effects on us, though the minute we walked through the huge wooden doors, my mom had joined my admiration.

The perky young assistant and the friendly innkeepers who greeted us instantly made us feel welcome, and my mom finally stopped humming "dee-duh-dee-dee, dee-duh-dee-dee..."


The interior centers mainly on deep, rich colors distinctive of Civil-War era decor without being overly dark or Gothic. Massively thick mahogany trimmed each of of the tall windows, as well as the ornate fireplace. Books filled the main room, evidencing Lori's (as of Steve and Lori, the innkeepers) foundations as an English major.

To reach our lodging, the Elizabeth Room, I climbed one steep flight of carpeted stairs with a crystal chandelier hanging overhead. The bedroom and adjacent bathroom in the Elizabeth Room were clean, comfortable, inviting, and consistent with the home's decor, and I loved having a footed bathtub - it added to the antebellum vibe.

As I fell asleep, I kept thinking of all the ghost stories I had heard about old houses in Maryland (though I hadn't thought the beautiful house was spooky at all, my mom's Twilight Zone comment had apparently stuck with me). With my overactive imagination I knew I was bound to "see" a ghost or two in the darkness, but fortunately I feel asleep pretty fast without any ectoplasmic incidents.

I enjoyed having breakfast with the rest of the guests in the morning in the dining room, which was decorated with fresh bouquets. Lori was sensitive to the dietary requirements of her guests (since I have celiac sprue, she warmed up a gluten-free bagel that I had brought and made sure that no wheat products were on my breakfast plate). I had also enjoyed the delicious coffee and tea earlier in the morning! I also spied an American Boxer - that's a dog, not a prizefighter -  watching us from the kitchen door whenever it swung open, obediently staying away from the dining room but still curiously watching us. He was so cute!

There were many comfortable sitting areas indoors and outside on the patio, and if we had had time for a longer stay, I would have enjoyed relaxing longer at the B & B, because its atmosphere was very refreshing and relaxing. The grounds around the inn sported a very Southern looking fountain, lush greenery, a garden statue with a crack on the neck masquerading as a necklace, and stately trees - all making me practically forget that we were in a Yankee state. :)

I'd like to return someday to Faunbrook, and for a longer stay. The atmosphere felt nurturing to the creative yearnings inside me. No wonder Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth did such fine work in the Brandywine Valley, for the atmosphere is filled with beauty, peace, and mystery.