Located on Northeast 10th Street across from Brigg’s Stadium, Sunnybrae Mansion has stood as a Milford landmark since 1935. Today, the mansion is owned by Lynn and Karen McColley.
Sunnybrae is situated on just over 68 acres of land on an early land grant known as Longfield. According to Milford historian Dave Kenton, the grant was patented in 1680 and was originally 2,000 acres. The original grant was awarded to Helmanus Wiltbank, who was from Lewes, during the Duke of York period in Delaware before the arrival of William Penn.
In 1762, Levin Crapper and his brother, Zaddock, were major landowners in the Milford area with Levin owning the entire northeast section of Saw Mill Range. Zaddock owned a farm of 130 acres and, in 1763, Zaddock purchased the 75-acre tract of land where Sunnybrae sits today.
From 1820 to 1920, the 68-acre parcel where Sunnybrae now sits was used as farmland but was eventually sold to a local real estate speculator, Colonel George M. Hall. In addition to speculating in land, Hall also owned Busy Bee Clothing, which became Derrickson’s. Hall sold the Sunnybrae land to Daniel C. and Rhoda Townsend in January 1913 for $2,000, about $68,000 today.
On December 2, 1918, the Townsend’s conveyed the land to their daughter, Rhoda Townsend Riddell. Rhoda and her husband farmed the land until declaring bankruptcy during the Great Depression in 1935. The bankruptcy proceedings led the property to be conveyed to a local attorney, Myer Ableman, On April 12, 1935, and was sold for $3,050, about $75,000 today, at public auction. The new owners were listed as the Commercial Mortgage Investment Company with Mabel Smith listed as President and Florence G. Davis, Secretary/Treasurer.
Edward M. Davis was also associated with the mortgage company and, in 1937, became the principal owner of the property. In an issue of the Milford Chronicle that year, Davis is described as a financier and philanthropist. Construction began on Sunnybrae in 1935 and was completed in 1936.
The News Journal reported that “chimes will greet visitors opening the entrance door at Edward M. Davis’ mansion Sunnybrae. Mr. Davis recently had the electrically operated charms installed wit one set for each of the three floors and a main playing board in the conservatory. He has engaged a Swiss engineer to erect a tower for a Carillion chimes on his estate sometime soon.”
There are indications that Davis fell into financial trouble in 1939 as a Dover attorney filed a mortgage with Commercial Mortgage Investment Company in the amount of $17,000, about $397,000 today. The mortgage listed the mansion and land as collateral.
Davis died in 1943 and Thomas C. Frame didn’t keep his mortgage long. The property was sold to National Products Inc., with Henry C. Wagamon listed as president and George A. Lippincott as Secretary/Treasurer. Lippincott was a wealthy investor who owned a controlling share in the product company which manufactured shell buttons. Although the main plant was in Philadelphia, there was another successful plant in Milton.
Lippincott was also an investor in the Milford Ordinance Plant and made the mansion available to James J. Dervin Sr., the manager of the company. Dervin, his wife and six children lived in the home. The ordinance plant closed in 1945 and Dervin, along with a partner, Edward J. Lyons, opened Milford Chemical and Manufacturing Company, but the new venture did not last. Dervin then began a company that made Kewpie dolls, but it fell into debt and was sold at auction.
Lippincott had a daughter, Jane, who married Leonard Elfreth in 1945. Elfreth’s grandfather, Samuel L. Allen purchased Sunnybrae, leaving it in trust for his daughters, one of which was Emily Allen Elfreth, Leonard’s mother. Leonard and Jane moved into Sunnybrae after their marriage and raised two children in the home.
The Elfreth’s were instrumental in many historical restoration projects in Milford, Frederica and Dover. Leonard purchased the Parson Thorne miller home on Northwest Front Street and restored it to its original 1787 condition. Elfreth’s son, Allen, inherited Sunnybrae upon the death of his mother in 2001.
The Elfreth family was well known in Philadelphia with Elfreth’s Alley named for Jeremiah Elfreth. While living in the home, the Elfreth’s decorated with many antiques from Philadelphia, including Chippendale chairs and a heavy brass door knocker that was a replica of the one on the John Dickinson mansion. A William Clagget grandfather’s clock stood in a center hall and in the sunroom was an elaborate 1560 Italian Renaissance bookcase.
The mansion is designed in the Georgian Revival style with a Flemish bond brick section framed by sun porches and capped with a slate roof. The main façade includes pediment highlighted by a circular window. Inside, the home boasts hardwood flooring throughout, antique furnishings and nine bedrooms.
In 2002, the McColley’s purchased the property and have restored it to its original condition. The home is now a center for business meetings, weddings and social events. In 2007, a columned portico façade was constructed to give the home the look of a colonial mansion. The Freedom Statue was added depicting a Civil War officer on horseback. Sunnybrae is located at 416 Northeast 10th Street in Milford.
