John Thompson Dorrance, the famous American chemist, lived from 1873 to 1930. He is most well known for discovering a method to create a condensed soup. He served as the general manager of the Campbell Preserve Company and later became the president of Campbell Soup.
He died at the age of 57 of heart disease, but he was voted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2012 for his contribution to improvements in semi-non perishable food storage.
This is a front view of the mansion from the vantage of the large courtyard and driveway. It has a fountain in the middle that matches the earthy tone of the house exterior walls. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
The formal living room has a fireplace with a wooden mantle that blends well with the walls. These are then contrasted by the bright tone of the sofa set that matches the ceiling. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
This other living room has a bright green tone to its walls adorned with tall arched windows. This is contrasted by the maroon patterned area rug paired with a couple of green and blue armchairs surrounding coffee tables. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
The dining area has a striped carpeted floor that has light pastel tones complemented by the tall windows and beige walls. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
The kitchen has a kitchen island in the middle of the hardwood flooring. This blends well with the dark wooden tone of the cabinetry contrasted by the white countertops. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
This is the other side of the kitchen with a curved long and narrow design. It has dark brown cabinetry lining the walls on both sides. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
The primary bedroom has a fireplace with a marble mantle that stands out against the pastel tone of the walls. On the far side is the four-poster bed with curtains surrounded by wooden cabinets. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
This bathroom has a bathtub housed in its own alcove with mirrors on the wall and a pendant light above to complement the beige tones. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
This other bathroom has a two-sink vanity around the corner from the bathtub and the entrance to the walk-in shower area. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
The closet has a consistent bright beige tone to its cabinetry, walls, floor and ceiling. These are then complemented by the recessed lights with warm yellow light. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
This is the side of the house with a round swimming pool. This is then surrounded by a small grass lawn that gives a nice contrast to the earthy exterior walls of the house. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
This is a view of the back of the house with a spacious garden. You can see here that the earthy exterior walls of the house are accented with bluish tones at the sides of windows. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
This is an aerial view of the mansion focusing on the main house. You can see here the large courtyard and driveway in front, a small pool on the side and a larger one at the back in the middle of a large lawn. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.
Today, Dorrance’s home in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania is up for sale marked at $19 and a half million. The mansion covers just under 15,000 square feet. It features ten bathrooms, eight bedrooms, formal rooms, game rooms, and a handful of guest bedrooms. The grounds the Dorrance home stands on includes a number of stone outbuildings, tennis courts, swimming pools, an aviary, and a ten car garage on a beautifully landscaped terrain.
Outside the entryway to the main house exists a courtyard which may have served as a briefing area for high-level employees at Campbell’s Soup. The imposing front facade of the house serves as a background for the area. Huge two-story hallways surround the three remaining sides of the courtyard and a relatively small fountain in a hexagonal pool stands in the center.
Inside the main living room, we begin to get an idea of the kind of massive wealth that comes with being the creator of perhaps the biggest canned soup company on Earth. Ornate wood paneling covers each wall. A small fireplace framed in white and brown marble stands off to one side. The floor is covered in the same white and brown marble, which gives the room a kind of gilded, earthen quality. Pristine, white furnishings fill the room and at the far end, by a tall window, stands a jade statue of a migratory bird.
A nearby conversation room is hemmed in by three bright yellow walls with three tall windows in each. Here, the furnishings are a bit more down to earth, with yellow chairs on one side of the room and blue on the other. The room is carpeted in what might be a 70s style shag carpet with a peculiar purple and white pattern made from large adjoined rectangles.
The dining area appears to attempt to mimic a fine dining establishment with numerous tables, elegant curtains, and a bar off to one side. The floor is almost entirely covered with an enormous rainbow patterned rug. That likely weighs about 300lbs.
The kitchen is quite modern with contemporary styling. The floor is all mahogany wood and the panels of the cabinets, two islands, and appliance housings are all dark wood as well. All of the countertop space is done in pure white marble. The opposite side of the kitchen features the same style and materials of the former, except that it is all contained within the space of a curved hallway.