The Murphy House

The property was deeded over to The Nemours Foundation in 2008 by Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) for $10, with the condition that Nemours would preserve the house in perpetuity.  Nemours runs the Nemours Mansion and Gardens and the Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware.

Nemours has announced that it will demolish the house on August 3, 2011.  No one other than the organization called Preservation Delaware has made an effort to stop the demolition.   

Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) owned the house until 2009 when it gave it away to Nemours gratis as part of a deal to restructure the whole area to accommodate expansion of the Astra Zeneca complex changing the roadways, adding parks, expanding the golf course and so on. Nemours accepted the house along with the deed restriction and agreements to preserve the house for Delaware history. 

In spite of the deed restriction and agreement to preserve, Nemours wiped the lot clean and hauled the pile of sticks and stones off to the landfill. 

This is the official document called Instrument # 200805080031943 which calls out the deed restrictions that Nemours accepted when they bought the house for $10 from DELDOT on June 2, 2008.  

Special notations from the document below:

1. The exterior of the House shall be maintained and preserved in a manner consistent with its historical character and in good condition and repair.

2. Any exterior additions or alterations to the House or the addition of a building on the Property must first be reviewed and approved in advance by Declarant, in writing, and once approved, all construction shall be performed in compliance with all applicable federal, state or local statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations.

3.  The provisions of this Declaration shall bind Declarant, its successors and assigns in perpetuity and shall run with the Property.

6.  Except as otherwise provided in the Declaration, Declarant, its successors and assigns, shall not seek to escape or circumvent these restrictions by obtaining a variance from the New Castle County Board of Adjustment or approval from the New Castle County Historic Review Board.

The property was deeded over to The Nemours Foundation in 2008 by Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) for $10, with the condition that Nemours would preserve the house in perpetuity.  The Murphy House was demolished early in 2012.