A farm bought for its trees
When Pierre S. du Pont bought the Peirce farm in 1906, his first aim was to protect the arboretum the Peirce brothers had begun planting in 1798. He kept the farmhouse, now the Peirce-du Pont House, and began to shape a garden around it.
Water and glass
Fountains and glasshouses became his signatures: the Open Air Theatre in 1914, the Conservatory in 1921, the Italian Water Garden in the 1920s and the Main Fountain Garden in 1931. He also ordered a 10,010-pipe Aeolian organ in 1929, restored between 2004 and 2011.
A garden for everyone
Du Pont set up the Longwood Foundation in 1937 to care for the gardens after him. Admission stayed free, supported by the endowment, until 1973.



