Gibraltar (Wilmington, Delaware)
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Gibraltar
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| Location | 2505 Pennsylvania Ave., Wilmington, Delaware |
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| Coordinates | 39°45′41″N 75°34′30″W / 39.761389°N 75.575000°WCoordinates: 39°45′41″N 75°34′30″W / 39.761389°N 75.575000°W |
| Area | 6.1 acres (2.5 ha) |
| Built | c. 1844, 1916 |
| Architect | Ives, Albert Ely; DeArmond, Ashmead and Bickley, et al. |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Italianate |
| NRHP Reference # | 98001098 |
| Added to NRHP | September 14, 1998 |
Gibraltar (previously known as the Hugh Rodney Sharp Mansion), located at 2505 Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilmington, Delaware, is a country estate home dating from c. 1844 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It takes its name from the Rock of Gibraltar, alluding to the high rocky outcrop on which the house was built. It is located just inside Wilmington's city limits and originally stood at the center of a much larger estate which has over time been reduced to the present area of about a city block in size. The house was originally built by John Rodney Brincklé and inherited by his brother's wife and children, before being bought in 1909 by Hugh Rodney Sharp, who was linked to the Du Pont family through marriage and work. Sharp expanded and remodeled the house, as well as commissioning the pioneering female landscape designer Marian Cruger Coffin to lay out the gardens.
The estate is now owned by a local preservation trust which acquired it in the 1990s after it was threatened with demolition and redevelopment. The gardens have since been restored and opened to the public. The estate was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 in recognition of its importance as a well-preserved example of the Country Place era of art and design. The mansion has not been occupied for many years and its condition has significantly deteriorated, but it is hoped that it will be restored for use as a commercial property with the proceeds going towards the continued preservation of the estate.
The estate was developed around 1844 by John Rodney Brincklé, grandnephew of the first Governor of Delaware, Caesar Rodney. It was located in the western part of Wilmington just within the city limits and was named for its position on a high rocky outcrop overlooking the city, in an allusion to the Rock of Gibraltar. Brincklé was said to have built it in an unsuccessful attempt to woo a woman from Philadelphia and subsequently used it as a retreat and as a base where he could carry out horticultural experiments and entertain friends and relatives. The estate originally extended over an area of about 80 acres (32 ha). Around 1848 he invited his brother Samuel with his wife and their eight children to move into the house. Samuel purchased it in May 1862 and carried out planting and landscaping works on the property. It passed to his wife Julia on his death and subsequently to their children.
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