The historic Joseph Davis House, originally built in 1725, sits on the 16-acre tract which hosts a mosaic of sprawling meadows and forested groves, including a specimen sycamore in the West meadow. According to the Brandywine Museum of Art, N.C. Wyeth and his family lived in the house from 1907 to 1911. Wyeth converted a former carriage house into his studio, adding a skylight to his workspace. There, he created some of his major artworks including his depictions of Native Americans and his illustrations for Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novel “Treasure Island.”

William L. Coleman, PhD, Director of the Wyeth Study Center at the Brandywine Museum of Art, said N.C. Wyeth found the setting at the Joseph Davis House very inspirational. Coleman said that inspiration was evident in the wide range of artwork he created in the studio.

“For that reason, NALT’s plans to make this structure a publicly accessible, interpreted space is tremendously exciting and would make a major addition to the networked natural and cultural resources of our region,” Coleman said.

David N. Duncan, President of the American Battlefield Trust noted that the tract, which is along Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1), sits at the center of the Continental Army’s main defensive line during the Revolutionary War Battle of Brandywine. On Sept. 11, 1777, the American forces engaged the British forces but ultimately had to retreat. Duncan said American General Anthony Wayne’s Pennsylvania Division took up position on the Joseph Davis Tract and a four-gun battery overlooking Chadds Ford was set up to the left of the property.