Gibraltar at a Glance

The story of Gibraltar begins in 1844, when John Rodney Brinckle built a home on what was then a large estate in Wilmington. In 1909, Hugh Rodney Sharp and his wife Isabella Mathieu DuPont purchased the property, expanded the mansion, and transformed Gibraltar into the estate recognized as it is today.

In 1916, the Sharps hired pioneering landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin to design six acres of gardens surrounding the mansion. Rather than creating a single formal landscape, Coffin arranged Gibraltar as a series of distinct outdoor “rooms,” connected by paths, vistas, terraces, and carefully planned transitions. Her design combined strong architectural structure with abundant planting, drawing inspiration from Italian Renaissance gardens and the English Arts and Crafts tradition.

After decades of changing ownership and declining resources, Preservation Delaware acquired the property in 1998 and completed a major restoration of the gardens in 1999 using historic plans, photographs, and research. Today, Preservation Delaware continues to care for the walled gardens, balancing preservation of Coffin’s historic design with ecological stewardship, renewed planting, restoration projects, and public access.