Built from 1925-1927, the Italian Water Garden embodied Pierre S. du Pont's love of water and fountains and drew its basic design from Villa Gamberaia near Florence, inspired by his early travels to Italy. Du Pont planned every aspect of the garden, from the sculptures to the hydraulic calculations. He designed the two most distant corner pools to be 14 feet longer than those nearer, creating the illusion that all four pools were identical in size. The Italian Water Garden was the second of three fountain gardens du Pont designed for his Longwood, and what he learned there led to improvements to the original design of the Open Air Theatre and to his final fountain garden, the Main Fountain Garden.
