Alapocas
Historic Review Board decided to allow demoliation of WFS stone barn at their Business Meeting, February 7, 2023
See submitted documents here:
Wilmington Friends School will demolish a stone garage on their property in preparation for a new 75,000 sq. ft. building, a 3,900 sq. ft. maintenance building, additional parking lots, access roads onto the campus and on street parking (150 spots) on all four sides of the parcel where the Upper School sits. "Since it possess Colonial Revival style stone architecture in keeping with the rest of the campus and the surrounding neighborhood, it is possible the NCC Historic Review Board would consider the structure a 'contributing' element to the larger historic property" (Michael J. Emmons, Jr., Assistant Director, Center for Historic Architecture and Design, University of Delaware. Letter dated December 1, 2022) The stone garage is a companion to the original stone farmhouse on the property. That farm house was built even before Friends School was founded in 1748 and was home to Wilmot Jones, Head of School, and his family when Friends moved from downtown to this site.
How is Alapocas historic? William Poole Bancroft, in the early part of this century had a vision for improving Wilmington and the surrounding area called the Brandywine. He was a generous, forward-thinking Quaker, city planner and conservationist quietly working to ensure the future of the Brandywine Valley that he treasured for the generations to come.
The land west of Concord Pike was mostly farmland through the 1800s. Bancroft bought the two farms belonging to George Hornby and William Wilson in the 1890s with carefully planned communities in mind. He founded Woodlawn Trustees in 1901 with the threefold purpose of preserving land along the Brandywine River; responsibly developing his landholdings on the west side of the Concord Pike; and creating affordable urban housing in Wilmington. Woodlawn Trustees guided by Bancroft's mandates created the neighborhood communities of Alapocas, Edenridge, Sharpley, Tavistock and Woodbrook. In fact, Brancroft's heirs, Woodlawn Trustees and Wilmington Meeting all donated money for the purchase of the land and construction of the school.
It was Bancroft’s vision to preserve green space, while still making that land accessible to people. The Woodlawn Trustees laid out the community and created deed restrictions to maintain the character of the this neighborhood, and many other nearby neighborhood communities for the future.
Wilmington Friends School sued the neighborhood association because they didn't believe the deed restrictions applied to them. The litigation has not been settled and is still ongoing.
Contact us.....Neighbors for Responsible Land Use