Brandywood Civic Association

Deed Restrictions

The Need to Protect Property Values

A number of questions have arisen lately as to what is acceptable and unacceptable with respect to property modifications in Brandywood. This is intended to clarify the issues dealing with the Deed Restrictions that you should have received when you bought your home. (If you do not have your copy, please request a copy from your Director, or look at a synopsis on the BCA home page.) Please keep in mind, that the purpose of the deed restrictions is to preserve the essential character of Brandywood and thereby protect the property values of all the homeowners in one of the most desireable communities in Brandywine Hundred.

Changes Must Be Approved

If you are planning any outside modifications to your home such as a deck, pool, fence, or addition, you need to submit your “plans and specifications showing the nature, kind, shape, height, materials, floor plans, color scheme, and location” (Brandywood Deed Restriction, Section 3) to your Director for review. The Board of Directors will review and comment on the plan. The Board “shall have the right to refuse to approve any such plans or specifications …which are not suitable, in its opinion, for aesthetic or other reasons”. It should be noted that approval will not be withheld unreasonably. In the event that the Board disallows a modification, the property owner will have an opportunity to appeal the decision.

Potential Consequences

In the event of a violation of these procedures, the Board has the right, under Section 8 of the Deed Restrictions, “to enter upon the land….and summarily abate and remove, at the expense of the homeowner”, the structure that is in violation; and such entry “shall not thereby be deemed guilty of any manner of trespass for such entry, abatement, or removal.” The Board has no intention to enforce this provision retroactively, but reserves the right to do so going forward from the above date.
Please note that certain kinds of projects require approval from New Castle County, and that approval by the Brandywood Board of Directors does not eliminate the need to obtain such approval.