Here's a great list of discounts for present and past military members. If you know someone who could make use of this, please forward it to them!

Silently sitting on the banks of the Brandywine River with a mill race (foreground) on the back side of the mills, the Eagle Roll mills at Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, were used in the manufacture of gunpowder from 1802 to 1920. The high stone walls face the millrace, while the walls were shorter and the roof on the river side was at an angle to direct the explosions towards the river, should there be a spark causing explosion. DuPont was the major supplier of gunpowder for Union troops during the Civil War.

In January of 1920, there was an explosion (there had been many explosions and deaths in the nineteenth century) of 50,000 pounds of gunpowder at the powderworks, and killing 5 men. Thereafter, the production of gunpowder at this site ceased.

In 1952 family members donated 185 acres of land and the DuPont company established a $6,000,000 endowment for the Eleutherian Mill-Hagley Foundation for a museum of industrial history. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

 Contact Carolyn Roland, Architectural Historian and Realtor in New Castle and Kent Counties in Delaware and Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania for your real estate needs. Serving the area for 25 years.

Since one year ago, real estate sales in New Castle County, Delaware, have continued the same trend which existed at the end of 2011. January listings were up almost 17% compared to one year ago. The good news is that closed sales were up more than 26% and pending sales were up twice that amount, 58%.

Another trend that continued into 2012 was that prices dropped 20%, while days on the market averaged almost 7% higher than the previous year.  An anomaly is that single family detached listings were down almost 16%, which reflects what I am seeing with sellers.  They are holding their homes off the market that they would really rather sell.

I saw this happen with one of my clients, for whom I did a market analysis showing that they would definitely have to list their house for about $50,000 less than they originally paid for it 3 years ago.  They can't afford to do this, and I hope they can hold out for quite a while and hope rental income on the property will ease the pain. It's an awful situation to be in, don't you agree?

A recent issue of Wall Street Journal's SMART MONEY focused on three towns in Delaware and profiled their affordability for retirees. As a whole, the tax situation favors retirees because there is no sales tax, Social Security benefits are tax-exempt, income tax rates max out at 6.95% and seniors can exempt $12,500 of investment and pension income from state taxes.
Philadelphia is just a short drive from northern Delaware, and a couple of hours drive in either direction takes you to Baltimore, Washington D.C., and New York City.

If you choose to move to the beach, remember that Rehoboth Beach is called "the Nation's Summer Capital," and can be pricey. The median home costs $650,800 and the cost of living is 81% higher than the national average.

Historic Old New Castle, on the other hand (the main street is seen at the right) has a median home price of $210,000 and a population just under 5,000 for the whole city of New Castle. It has many historic homes, sits on the Delaware River with a view of New Jersey, but you will need to travel a mile or so down the road to get to a large grocery store, and it's about a 15 minute drive from Wilmington, the State's largest city.

Another town in Delaware that was profiled was Newark, which is the home of the University of Delaware. This brings many activities, plays, musicals, a walkable downtown with over 30 restaurants, parkland, walking and bike trails. One of my favorite activities is Ag Day, held each year in April near the Agriculture buildings at the University. The picture at the left is of Miss New Castle and a Paws for Life dog, who were attending the Ag Day festivities. The University Botanical Gardens hold a big plant sale that day in the greenhouses, and I always come home with some new specimens for my garden. Newark has a population of almost 30,000 and a median home cost of around $270,000. The University is in the process of developing the closed Chrysler plant location for high tech and energy saving companies, and utilizing the rail tracks and Amtrak station in town.

So what are you waiting for? Hop on I-95, cross those bridges, get those Amtrak tickets or tickets to Philadelphia International Airport, and come to DELAWARE!!

On Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012 at 1:30 p.m., the New Castle Courthouse Museum http://history.delaware.gov/museums/ncch/ncch_main.shtml   located at 211 Delaware St. in Old New Castle, Delaware., will present the program "Forgotten Presidents and How the Presidency Evolved." Admission to the museum, which will also be open for visitation between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. For additional information, call 302-323-4453.

Led by historic-site interpreter Bob Vander Decker, the program will explore the lives of the 14 men who served as presidents of the Continental Congress.  See info at  http://www.russpickett.com/ushist/uscont.htm   This convention of delegates  emerged as the first national government of the United States during the period of the American Revolution through the ratification of the United States Constitution. One of those men, Thomas McKean of Delaware, served as the Congress' 8th president in 1781.

CAROLYN ROLAND --YOUR HISTORIC HOMES RESOURCE

February 2012 Historic Homes E News


The Murphy House in Rockland, Delaware has been torn down by the Nemours Foundation as of 4:20 p.m. on Jan 11. In 2008, the State sold the house to the Foundation for $10 with their promise to restore the building. For details on this story see http://actvra.in/r8B

On Saturday, February 18, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the John Dickinson Plantation, located at 340 Kitts Hummock Road in Dover, DE 19901, will commemorate the 204th anniversary of the death of American patriot John Dickinson (Nov. 13, 1732–Feb. 14, 1808). The program will feature letters written in Dickinson’s memory by prominent Wilmington physician Joseph Bringhurst. The day’s activities will also include a wreath-laying ceremony at the gravesite of Dickinson’s father Samuel at Noon. Admission to all events is free and open to the public. For additional information, call 302-739-3277

Delaware Tech is presenting An Evening of Mardi Gras on February 18 from 7 to 11 pm at their Wilmington Campus at 3rd and Orange Streets in Wilmington. This fund-raiser is in its 8th year and the proceeds go to  the campus Educational Foundation. See http://www.dtcc.edu/mardigras/about.html

Mardi Gras and All That Jazz will be presented from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.at the Johnson Victrola Museum. Celebrate the sounds of Mardi Gras and New Orleans’ Jazz. Find out how Victor records contributed to this genre and hear vintage Victor recordings on the original talking machines. This is part of the First Saturday events on Saturday, February 4 in the State Museums around the Green in Dover, Delaware. Other programs in the museums including learning about Delaware’s complicated positions regarding freedom and slavery, and its role as a border state during the Civil War. Find out how a brave group of runaway slaves known as the Dover Eight made a daring escape from the Dover Jail. Hear about famous African-American Richard Allen and his connections to the Golden Fleece Tavern.http://www.destateparks.com/park/first-state-heritage/index.asp


The Friends of Rockwood Museum in Wilmington are presenting their 2nd Victorian Ball at the Museum on Saturday, February 25.. Enjoy an evening of popular ballroom dances of the mid- to late-19th century.The costume ball includes historic dance instruction by Tapestry Historic Dance Ensemble at 7pm, music by String Theory, a live string quartet,and entertainment by a visitor from the late 1800s. Victorian costumes and finery encouraged, but not required. The Friends of Rockwood invite you to support their efforts to restore the Museum Conservatory by bidding on a variety of items in the Silent Auction, purchasing special libations, as well as 50/50 chances and having your photograph taken in a Victorian setting. The following video was taken at last year's Rockwood Ball.
http://www.friendsofrockwood.org/

>Please visit Carolyn’s blog/website http://carolynrolandsblog.com/ . And check out http://croland.psre.com/ . Carolyn Roland can be reached at the Hockessin, Delaware office of Patterson-Schwartz, 302-239-3000 or direct 800-771-2332. Email Carolyn at any time with comments or if you wish to be removed from the mailing list at oldhome@verizon.net.

Last month, the 192 room Sheraton Wilmington South finally opened for guests, 10 years after it's original planned opening. What happened? Well, building inspectors discovered it was 1/3 larger than approved plans. Court battles ended in bankruptcy for the developers, another developer took over, and finally Hersha Hospitality plunked down $15 million for the fully furnished. building. 

Hersha spent $24 million gutting the never-used hotel, creating a grand lobby staircase for those perfect bridal pictures. Yesterday, the New Castle County Board of Realtors held their installation of 2012 officers at the Sheraton, and we had a chance to see it in all its neutral-toned beauty.

The verdict?  I have not seen the rooms, but the meeting room on the 2nd floor overlooking the lobby had a low ceiling and a big post in the middle so that the podium was hard to see, a problem depending on where your table was. Sort of claustrophobic.  The food was OK, although this tea drinker had to be persistent requesting tea, since only coffee was set out (and not market decaf or caffeine).

Originally the older design had a spiral staircase in the lobby (what were they thinking?), so the "grand" version was nice, but I walked all around the lobby and although their was a tiny Starwood Hotel guest counter, there didn't seem to be a traditional check-in desk, just some computers. Guess they figure everyone is fine with some online system. Below, the lobby as seen from the 2nd floor. As I came in from the parking lot, I could see guests leaving the hotel, so they are attracting people--as they should, since it is just feet from the heavily travelled north-south I-95 corridor. Hope they don't have too many problems with being built in a swamp, since I did see a "high water" sign posted on the road outside the parking lot. It is right down the road from Historic Old New Castle, so at long last visitors will not have to travel far for an overnight stay.

The following three links lead to my market reports for Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania and New Castle and Kent Counties in Delaware which were all posted during the month of January, 2012.

http://actvra.in/qWs

http://actvra.in/r5G

http://actvra.in/rpl

As for the WEATHER report, although we had plenty of snow a year ago, so far only a couple of inches of icy stuff. Not nearly as pretty as last year, but then again, not as much shoveling.

Although we had some light snow in October 2011, last night brought a couple of inches of wet snow in Wilmington. It was pretty icy around 9 a.m., but by noon it had turned to a manageable icy layer with enough water under it to scoop to the side of the driveway. And my lovely South Graylyn Crest neighbor had used his snow blower earlier to do the front sidewalks of about half a dozen houses from his house to mine, so all I had to shovel was the driveway and path to my door.

Then I looked out my back window and saw this lovely sight. I had left a container with Juncus effusus (Big Twister - Twisted Rush) and alyssum for winter interest, and behold--it looked very interesting!

As was true in other local markets, New Castle County, Delaware had a surge of activity in December, 2011, but a year end compilation of figures  still shows a slow market. Although new listings were up 1.3% in December, they were down almost 13% for the year. The reason for this can be seen in the median sales price of $195,000, which was down 8% for 2011 overall.

The times are also reflected in days on the market, which for the year went up 21.5% from the previous year, from 79 to 96 days on the market.  These figures are saying to sellers that for the most part, your home will probably be on the market more than 90 days, and you will get around 8% less than last year. There are exceptions, of course, depending on neighborhood and condition of a property. And remember, don't overimprove your property, because appraisers are going to be comparing your home to similar homes which may not have designer fixtures or energy saving features.

If you have questions about getting your home ready to market, call Carolyn Roland.

Still serving the Real Estate needs of Kent and New Castle Counties in Delaware, and Southern Chester County in Pennsylvania, for 25 years.
CAROLYN ROLAND, GRI CRS