Owners After The Washington Family
After the Washingtons vacated, there were a number of successive owners of Claymont:
- 1871-1886: Clement March
- 1886-1889: Charles Dawson
-
- Dawson hired William A. Bates, an architect from New York to redesign the mansion, enlarging it significantly. Both the ballroom wing and the dining room wings were enlarged to their current size of 32x36 feet. A second story was added to both wings, which included bedrooms and bathrooms.
- 1889-1906: Frank R. Stockton
-
- Stockton was a popular author at the time and wrote three books while residing at Claymont. He is best known for his short story The Lady, or the Tiger?
- 1906-1943: Col. S.J. Murphy
-
- Murphy rebuilt and refined Claymont's old gardens with the help of Conklyn Brothers Landscape Architects and Hydraulic Engineers of Charles Town. The gardens gained a 235-foot (72 m) pergola and large fountain.
- 1943-1972: Raymond J. Funkhouser
-
- Funkhouser was a West Virginia industrialist who was interested in purchasing and restoring the old Washington homes of Jefferson County. He bought Cedar Lawn, Blakeley, and Claymont and combined them into one 7,000-acre (28 km2) property (the estates are all contiguous). Claymont became the private residence of Mr. Funkhouser. The grounds and gardens were meticulously tended during this period.
- 1972-1975: J. Glenn Brown
-
- Brown was the owner of Blakeley Mansion and the son of DuPont executive J. Thompson Brown. He and his family lived at Blakeley from 1954-1979. He sold Claymont along with 418 acres to the Claymont Society in 1975. The deed of sale included easement restrictions that preserved the property from development.
- 1975–present: The Claymont Society for Continuous Education
-
- Led by John G. Bennett, an English philosopher and scientist, Claymont was purchased by Bennett's non profit. Today, The Claymont Society for Continuous Education continues as a non-profit focused on lifelong learning and principles of sustainability.
Read more about this topic: Claymont Court
Famous quotes containing the words owners, washington and/or family:
“The newspapers, especially those in the East, are amazingly superficial and ... a large number of news gatherers are either cynics at heart or are following the orders and the policies of the owners of their papers.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“I may as well say, what all men feel, that whilst our every amiable and very innocent representatives and senators at Washington are accomplished lawyers and merchants, and every eloquent at dinners and at caucuses, there is a disastrous want of men in New England.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Some [adolescent] girls are depressed because they have lost their warm, open relationship with their parents. They have loved and been loved by people whom they now must betray to fit into peer culture. Furthermore, they are discouraged by peers from expressing sadness at the loss of family relationships—even to say they are sad is to admit weakness and dependency.”
—Mary Pipher (20th century)