Mitchell–Biden House added to the National Register

The Mitchell-Biden House, located on North Star Road near Newark, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 28, 2025. 

This 19th-century dwelling is locally significant for its architecture as a stone house in Mill Creek Hundred and representative of cultural patterns associated with agricultural tenancy during the 19th century in northern Delaware. Further, the Mitchell-Biden House is significant at the state level as it was the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. family home and headquarters during Biden’s professional launch into national political service as a United States senator representing the State of Delaware. 

The Mitchell Family built the first block of the dwelling circa 1823-1827 and resided in the Mitchell-Biden House during much of the 19th century, adding several stone additions. These additions play into local architectural trends, highlighting two sub-types of stone house construction popular in northern Delaware’s piedmont region: sequencing from log to stone construction and side-passage, double-parlor plan dwellings. 

In addition to the architectural significance of the Mitchell-Biden House, the property highlights the cultural patterns associated with familial agricultural tenancy during the 19th century. Familial agricultural tenancy allowed for families to capitalize on favorable farming conditions in northern Delaware, building generational wealth, allowing for the emergence of an elite class of farmers. The Mitchell family exemplified this economic and agricultural trend in familial agricultural tenancy from circa 1823 to 1844. 

Its more modern historic significance is linked to the Biden family, who moved into the house in 1971 and lived there until 1975, during the timeframe in which Biden launched his national political career as Delaware’s U.S. Senator. It was at the Mitchell-Biden House that Biden announced his campaign for United States Senator and then conducted duties associated with his elected position. 

Read the full nomination here. 

This National Register nomination was prepared by the University of Delaware’s Center for Historic Architecture and Design on behalf of New Castle County. This work was supported by the Historic Preservation Fund sub-grant program for certified local governments, managed by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs’ State Historic Preservation Office.