Delaware Spaces: Greenville hillside house

• 5 Hearth Lane, Greenville
• 6,050 square feet
• Five bedrooms, four bathrooms and one partial bathroom
• $1.685 million

Faye Buckner was working for B. Gary Scott Inc. real estate brokerage firm in the late 1980s when she learned that roughly 18 acres belonging to a du Pont family estate near the Brandywine would be sold off as building lots.

Her first thought was her husband, Fred, would love it.

But when Fred Buckner first saw what would become their home site, he thought the place was a "disaster." There was a vacant dilapidated house on the site covered with weeds and other growth.

"There was a whole row of dogwood trees here and we didn't know it. It was a jungle," Fred Buckner said.

Still, the Buckners went ahead and bought the 2.46-acre property. They bought the hidden site, wedged between Old Barley Mill, the Brandywine and Del. 100 in Greenville, in 1988 for $345,035. They then set about building a hidden contemporary house reached by a long, private driveway.

It was ideal for the Buckners. At the time, Fred was president of Hercules Inc., and security and privacy were important to them.

"I've never been worried about security in this house. Never," Fred said. "There's only one way in and one way out."

The couple, who were empty-nesters, hired Ann Capron, a Pennsylvania architect, to design a roughly 6,050-square-foot hillside home. It was two years before they could move in because the abandoned house on the property had to be demolished.

The Buckners were told the vacant house, which was merely a shell, had been once been a home for estate workers. But the overall area had once been fairly developed. Located near the DuPont Co.'s former gunpowder works, now Hagley Museum & Library, the area had been dotted with workers' houses and other operations supporting the mills on the creek.

On the Buckner property are old stone walls left over from other occupants. The Buckners found five grinding wheels, ranging from 2.5 feet to 5 feet in diameter. Two of the largest ones were incorporated into steps in the yard.

By January 1990, the Buckners were ready to move in – even though the house hadn't been completed. They had sold their house in Weldin Farms in Brandywine Hundred and had no choice but to relocate to their new home, finished or not. When they first occupied the house, the front door had not been installed yet. The opening was covered with plywood.

Now, the Buckners think it is time to sell since they spend seven months of the year at their home in Florida. They've put the five-bedroom house up for sale for $1.685 million.

Patsy Morrow, a real estate agent with BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors, which has the listing, said the house is a great location near shopping and the major highways.

"You're close to the city, but you feel like you're in the country," Morrow said. "It's a large house, so it can accommodate a large family."

Fred and Faye Buckner talk about the house.

What did you think when you first saw the house?

Faye: There was an old stone shell of a house, a two-story house with no windows, that hadn't been lived in for years and years.

Fred: We thought there was good potential for the lot because of the location. We were up high above the river and close to Wilmington. It's so private here. But because it was so overgrown and neglected, it was hard to tell what was underneath everything.

And you wanted a contemporary house?

Faye: We went to look at some houses that Ann Capron designed and every house we saw we really liked.

Fred: We went about as far as we could go on the outside. We didn't want it too awfully contemporary.

Since Fred was a corporate executive, it must have been a good house for entertaining.

Fred: The house has good flow. But I retired two years after we moved in here. We always said if we could afford to retire at 60 that's what we'd do. It was a perfect decision for me.

Have you enjoyed living here for nearly 25 years?

Faye: Yes, we have. Our oldest grandchild would come and stay for two weeks, and he enjoyed it so much.

Fred: After I retired, I would work all day outside. I enjoyed it.

To suggest interesting spaces contact Maureen Milford at (302) 324-2881 or mmilford@delawareonline.com.

THE PROPERTY

ADDRESS: 5 Hearth Lane, Greenville

SIZE: 6,050 square feet

BEDROOMS: Five

BATHS: Four full and one partial

PRICE: $1.685 million