Read House & Gardens

Read House & Gardens — Delaware’s Finest Federal-Period Mansion on the Banks of the Delaware River

A National Historic Landmark, 22 Rooms of Inspired Design, and 2.5 Acres of Historic Gardens in the Heart of Historic New Castle

In the cobblestone heart of Historic New Castle, overlooking the Delaware River from The Strand, stands the most sophisticated Federal-period residence ever built in Delaware. The Read House — completed in 1804 for George Read II, son of a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution — is 14,000 square feet of early American design ambition, now preserved as a National Historic Landmark and operated by the Delaware Historical Society as one of the most rewarding house museums in the mid-Atlantic.

The Read House is open Thursday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. The house is closed on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Interior tours run on the hour; the last tour begins at 3:00 p.m. The gardens are open dawn to dusk daily, year-round, free of charge. On-street parking is available throughout Historic New Castle.

Admission: Adults (18+): $10 | Military, Seniors (62+), Students with ID: $8 | Youth ages 6–17: $5 | Children 5 and under: Free | Delaware Historical Society Members: Free. Art-Reach ACCESS Delaware and Museums for All participants: $2. Always confirm current hours at readhouseandgardens.org before visiting, as seasonal hours may vary.

George Read II and the Building of Delaware’s First Mansion

George Read II was the son of George Read Sr., one of Delaware’s most consequential statesmen, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention who signed the Constitution, and President of Delaware. The younger Read inherited both his father’s name and his legal instincts, serving as Delaware’s first United States Attorney for nearly 30 years before his son, Read III, succeeded him for another 20.

When Read II decided to build a new house in New Castle in the early 1790s, he did so with considerable wealth and equally considerable ambition. The resulting structure — completed in 1804 after a construction period of roughly a decade — was the largest and most architecturally sophisticated private residence in the state. At 14,000 square feet, it dwarfed everything around it, its Federal-period architecture drawing heavily on the Adamesque style then fashionable in Philadelphia while incorporating design influences from Rome, Sweden, and China visible in the decorative details of the interiors.

The house contains 22 rooms spread across two and a half stories, with original period furnishings, decorative arts, and architectural details that document the peak of early American domestic aspirations. The house’s view of the Delaware River includes a surviving portion of the original George Read wharf — a direct physical connection to the maritime commerce that funded the lifestyle the house embodies.

Trivia: The adjacent George Read I House — the father’s home, which stood next door — was destroyed by fire in 1824. William Couper, the Read House’s second owner, used the cleared space to establish the formal garden beginning in 1846. Fire, in this case, made room for beauty.

The House: A Masterclass in Federal-Period Design

The Read House is interpreted primarily during the Read family’s ownership (roughly 1797–1836), though several rooms reflect the aesthetic contributions of subsequent owners. The guided interior tour covers the house’s major spaces on the first and second floors, including the servant spaces and kitchen areas that reveal the full social and economic organization of a prosperous early-19th-century Delaware household.

Among the architectural and decorative highlights:

• Adamesque plasterwork and woodwork of unusual quality and complexity for Delaware of the period
• Original period furnishings and decorative arts — furniture, ceramics, silver, textiles, and paintings accumulated by the Read family and their successors
• Design eclecticism is visible throughout: Romanesque details alongside Swedish-influenced woodwork, alongside Chinese-export decorative objects reflecting the global trade networks of the early American republic
• The kitchen and service spaces show the domestic labor economy of the household — a necessary counterweight to the elegance of the formal rooms

Reviewer observations consistently describe the Read House as a genuinely unexpected discovery: “You go through the first and second floors, including the servant spaces and kitchen, and hear a lot about the history of the house from the unlikable Mr. Read to the fun-loving Lairds.” The house’s later owners, Philip and Lydia Laird — who occupied the property between 1920 and Lydia’s death in 1975 — brought their own personality to the spaces, and their colonial-revival interpretation of the property was so distinctive that it was featured in dozens of national publications from Town & Country to Mademoiselle.

Accessibility note: The Read House involves multiple stairs both inside and out due to its historic construction. It may not be fully accessible for visitors with mobility limitations. Contact the museum in advance to discuss specific needs.

The Gardens

The 2.5-acre garden surrounding the Read House was laid out beginning in 1846 by William Couper, the house’s third owner, in a formal Victorian style that remains largely true to his original design. Features include:

• Brick walkways winding between planting beds
• Two gazebos, placed at locations documented in late 19th-century photographs
• Mature trees and specimen plantings accumulated over nearly 180 years
• Views across The Strand to the Delaware River, connecting the garden to the historic waterfront that frames the entire New Castle experience

The garden is open free of charge from dawn to dusk every day, year-round — making it one of the most accessible historic green spaces in New Castle County, even on days when the house is closed. It also makes for a pleasant short walk, even for visitors not taking the interior tour.

The Delaware Historical Society Museum Store at Read House

The Delaware Historical Society operates a museum store at the Read House location, open Wednesday through Friday, 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., and Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. The store features books, reproduction prints, maps, photographs, postcards, T-shirts, and children’s items — with a 15% discount for Delaware Historical Society members.

Read House as the Capstone of Historic New Castle

The Read House stands at the architectural and historical apex of the New Castle historic district — a district that the city’s own literature describes as second only to Colonial Williamsburg in the number and authenticity of preserved Colonial and Federal structures in America. Visiting the Read House after the Dutch House Museum (late 1600s) and the Amstel House (late 1700s) creates a three-stop architectural and social history sequence that covers 170 years of New Castle domestic life and shows, quite vividly, how wealth and ambition evolved in a small Delaware River town from rough colonial settlement to American republic. The New Castle Court House Museum, Old Library Museum, and the Visitor Center at The Arsenal round out a full day that requires nothing more than comfortable shoes and a willingness to walk on cobblestones.