D.F. Quillen & Sons operated on Sussex Street in Rehoboth
Dennard F. Quillen Jr. died earlier this year. He left behind a legacy that dates back to the quieter years of Rehoboth Beach. This photograph shows D.F. Quillen & Sons General Contractors on Sussex Street in Rehoboth Beach. Quillen’s car sits in front. Today, it’s home to the Rehoboth Beach Montessori School. It still looks nearly identical.
Before becoming a Montessori school, the building, constructed in 1948, had been the home of Rehoboth Cooperative Preschool since the mid-1990s. Due to dwindling enrollment, that school closed in 2014.
According to a 2016 Saltwater Portrait about Quillen, his family has long been a fixture in the local construction business, as Dennard, his father and grandfather were all builders.
Quillen’s best-known business in Rehoboth was Quillen’s Hardware store, which he founded with his wife Charlotte. They first built the store at 310 Rehoboth Ave. by themselves, starting with just 4,000 square feet and gradually expanding to 20,000 square feet.
The couple shut down the Rehoboth Avenue store after Charlotte survived two bouts with cancer. They retained ownership, renting it to The Cultured Pearl restaurant.
Until recently, the Quillens still operated a hardware store on Service Road outside Rehoboth.
