Shipley owned "Downing's Treatise" with a list of American estates, including Rockwood as "the fine place of Mr. Shipley."
Rockwood is a striking example of the Rural Gothic Style in America and one of the most fashionable buildings in America in the mid 19th century.
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On March 9, 1850, Shipley purchased the 80 acre farm of Thomas Harker for $4,800, 13 acres from Phillips for $750, and 20 acres from Beeson for $1,035.94. In addition, Shipley purchaed a tract from Weldin for $4,340. Weldin's property, though rocky, had a fine southern view of the Delaware River. The total purchase was 211 acres and $17,750. Construction started by September 11, 1851. |
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| The Site |
Elevation and direction were prime concerns according to British architect, John Loudon. An elevated location meant a dry home, reduced the chance of flooding and gave greater elegance, grandeur, and grace.
Rockwood was close enough to Wilmington to have access to the necessities and luxuries of the town, yet far enough for privacy. It had convenient access on the east to well traveled and well maintained public roads.
Shipley designed the entrance by the gatehouse with Shipley Road appearing to go directly onto his driveway! The entrance to the rural villa from the publish road was marked by a large gate and lodge for the porter. The porter's lodge was built at the same time as the mansion and is represented in reduced scale. This was designed by a Wilmington native, Thomas Dixon.
John Loudon recommeded a winding approach road with a variety of scenery. Shipley's road curved and rose as it approached the house. The facade was to be seen from several angles along this road.
Shipley asked Edward Bringhurst to obtain very small stones for the drive, perhaps from the rocks which were being blasted on the property. (Letter dated December 6, 1850 from Shipley to Bringhurst.)
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| The Stone |
The walls were chosen to be granite because it was cheaper than stucco. Rockwood had it's own quarry along the winding road. Brandywine Blue Granite, called Blue Rock, was used for the mansion.
The massive exterior walls of stone are the main support and are fitted together with extreme precision. There are interior walls of solid brick up to the attic.
Edward wrote to Shipley December 26, 1850: to "Look into whether or nt the blue rocks they were blasting were receiving mastic well."
The stone is the rough texture of dark Brandywine granite with finished gray granite in the quoins and window and door surrounds.
The wooden details - bargeboards, pendants, finials, doors, windows, and cornices are emphasized by being painted a darker color than the stone of the walls.
The roof is supported by a wooden rafter system and was tinned and double peaked - later the interior valley was roofed over. The mullions of the windows are wooden as are the barge boards, finials, and pendants.
The clustered, red-brick chimneys in groups of 3 or 4, breaking up the outline of the roof are an additional decorative element giving a picturesque interplay of light and shade.
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| The North Facade |
This facade is symmetrical in outline but not in detail with the garden facade. It is bordered on the east by the conservatory and on the west, the service wing and the addition.
The doorway is cut-granite framing double Gothic doors. The projecting gables flanking the entrance have carved floral vines in the bargeboard.
Critic, Edward Kemp, said windows should never overlook the entrance road of the estate, so that the privacy of the residents might be undisturbed.
There was a quality of workmanship. The rough stone is fitted together with extreme precision. The overhanding gable is wood, supported by heavy, scrolled Gothic brackets and narrow columns, bargeboards wth chevron molding with a final rising from the apex.
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| The South Lawn |
This side of the mansion faced southeast so that these rooms would be warmer. Therefore, Shipley placed his home on a 7 degree angle to the SE.
The south or garden facade has a gable framed by heavy wooden bargeboards. There is a stepped belt course on part of the facade, overhanging eaves, a hipped roof, and asymmetrical chimneys.
A hipped (or hip) roof slopes down to the eaves on all four sides. A gable is the triangle formed by a sloping roof.
The south facade of the house is symmetrical with a central pavilion, windows with large panes, a veranda, finials, and gables. The central area has 3 full length glass doors on the 1st floor, repeated in a smaller fashion on the 2nd floor. This area is outlined by cut stone quoins crowned with an orante wooden gable with struts and brackets. There are cast iron plaques at the end of the balustrade, wooden newels and an iron rail. The two south bedrooms have a great view of the garden.
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| The East Facade |
| Shipley planned the east side to contain a breakfast room with two full length glass doors opening onto the garden, which receives the morning sun. |
| The Conservatory |
The conservatory is a long rectangle. The only door is on the south side opening onto stone steps with a path leading to the garden. The conservatory is supported by tall, slender cast iron columns. There are iron supports in the wooden piers framing the windows with cast iron finials, an iron rail, pierced iron scrolls, and 9 different kinds of finials. It was painted dark green.
There is a fountain at the far end of the conservatory where Edward III played with his friends. The cast iron on the balustrades in the conservatory were ordered from England, as was the plate glass. |
| The Water |
A feature of Gardenesque Landscaping was a water element. The Delaware River could be seen from the mansion's veranda. A hydraulic pump was built on Squirrel Run, the creek behind the mansion, to provide water to the house. A cistern on the roof was another source of water, mainly to the water closet and bathroom.
Thomas Crapper & Co. is a classic manufacturer of the finest bathroom fittings, having held four royal warrants and having existed through five reigns over 140 years.
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| 1851-1854 |
| The period of Rockwood contained the rooms now included in the museum. To the east was the conservatory and to the west, a two story servants wing with a kitchen, pantry, scullery, and wash house. |
| 1854-1857 |
Shipley needed to enlarge the servants' wing almost immediately. A second story was added above the scullery, now the Monte Carlo room, the sewing room and the Winter Garden.
Some changes were made around 1900...the addition of a third floor to the tower at the west end. |
| 1913 |
| Elizabeth Shipley Bringhurst Smith decided to take up residence in the family home after the death of her husband, John Galt Smith. Many letters to her mother included the planning, building, and furnishing the new addition. |
| The West Wing |
It is the same rough granite with lighter cut quoins and window surrounds. It seems to blend into the trees on the west end of the house. This wing doubled the number of rooms with bedrooms, an office, storerooms, and servants' quarters. It was linked through the first floor kitchen and second floor Winder Garden.
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| The Interior |
 The finest woodwork is the arc hway that separates the stair hall from the ante-room.The 1st floor doors are built of oak with inset panels duplicated in the shutters. The cornice is finely designed with acanthus leaves and gold leaf. All the rooms have large baseboards, 12" high; the first floor with inset panels; the 2nd floor's are plain.
The original floors were rough pine of random widths covered with either oil-cloth or carpeting.
There were coal burning fireplaces. Loudon recommended a system of heating and ventilation and so Rockwood had heated fresh air that was pulled through the first floor into the grates in each room.
The kitchen was redesigned in 1969 by local architect, Eldon Homsey, for the Hargraves. It had been previously made into a split-level room possibly around 1900. The kitchen was modernized and remodeled to make almost the entire room raised for Mrs. Hargraves, a semi-invalid at the time.
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| The Barn |
The placement of the  barn NW of the mansion resulted in the winds carrying the stable odors away from the mansion. The barn was used by Shipley as a carriage house and stable.
The barn was Blue Rock and Gray and White Gabbros stone with a cornice of elongated Italianate brackets. The gardener's cottage is of the same granite as the mansion with a hipped roof, entrace porch, and casement windows.
Other out buildings were a greenhouse, laundry, springhouse, and gatehouse. |
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Resources:
Larry Lee's Discourse
Dr. Ames presentation on Rockwood
William Sellers interview, 1983
Homsey's Records
Susan Chase's presentation
Many others from the letters, artifacts, and pictures at the Historical Society of Delaware
Presentation by Judy Filipkowski, 2006
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