Ex-Phillies owner’s estate, once owned by DuPont’s founder, is for sale for $3.5 million
The Brandywine Valley property in Delaware includes a main residence and several outbuildings. It was once owned by DuPont’s founder.
A 10½-acre estate in Delaware owned by the family of former Phillies owner Ruly Carpenter and once owned by the founder of DuPont has hit the market for $3.5 million.
The Brandywine Valley property, called Ball Farm, is a local landmark. It includes a main residence that spans 8,100 square feet and several outbuildings, including a detached garage with a loft, a springhouse, a barn, and a one-bedroom apartment attached to the barn.
The three-story main house, which is more than 100 years old, has five fireplaces, hand-painted murals by local artist Vicki Vinton, and hardwood and brick floors throughout much of it. It includes six bedrooms, a den, and six full and two half bathrooms.
The home’s solarium opens to a stone patio that overlooks the property’s pond.
“There’s a lot of possibilities of what people could do with the property,” said listing agent Leslie Carpenter with Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate, who is also the daughter-in-law of the property owner. “It’s gonna take the right buyer who’s going to appreciate the historic value of the property, be a good steward of it.”
The property started as a dairy farm. It has changed hands only four times, starting when E.I. du Pont, founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., bought it in 1812, according to Carpenter.
It is now owned by the family of Ruly Carpenter, who owned the Phillies when the team won its first World Series championship in 1980. Prior to living on the property, he worked on its dairy farm, Leslie Carpenter said. He died in 2021 at 81.
“Everyone thought Ball Farm was named that because of my father-in-law,” but that was just the name of the farm, Carpenter said.
His grandfather, former Phillies owner R.R.M. Carpenter, married into the du Pont family, and the home has stayed in the Carpenter family.
The estate is located in Montchanin, New Castle County, and is minutes from the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library; and the Hagley Museum and Library, the site of the gunpowder factory founded by E.I. duPont.
Carpenter said the property is great for entertaining and has hosted “many” weddings. But the property is too large for her mother-in-law.
“Time moves on, and the kids didn’t want it, and everyone has their own places,” Carpenter said. “Time for the next steward of Ball Farm.”
The property was listed for sale on May 5.