Historic Environments

After visiting Eleanor Roosevelt’s home, we went to the Vanderbilt mansion, another historical house museum in Hyde Park. However, unlike Roosevelt’s small, modest home, the Vanderbilts’ is huge, totaling 55,000 square feet. And, this was home to only two people—Frederick Vanderbilt and his wife, Louise.

Frederick Vanderbilt was the son of William Vanderbilt, an heir to a massive railroad and shipping empire. William did not leave much of this fortune to Frederick, because he highly disapproved of Frederick’s marriage. Frederick received $10 million, which was substantially less in comparison to amounts his siblings received.  However, Frederick managed to amass a fortune in his own right, while most of his siblings died bankrupt.

Frederick purchased this estate in Hyde Park in 1895, and had the mansion built between shortly after.  He and Louise designed it intricately in Italian Renaissance style, reflecting the opulence of the Gilded Age.  The gardens were also in this style, and he kept them resplendent in roses. But the story of Frederick and Louise, as told by our excellent tour guide, allowed us to understand that while they sought to live in an ornate home complete with every type of modern convenience available at the time (such as electricity!), they still sought to live life in peace, a life outside of that of other wealthy families. Thus, rather than hosting events exclusively for people in their wealthy circles, they would instead host events for their servants and servants’ children.  The guide mentioned how they often hosted events such as ice-cream socials, where all of them would enjoy strawberry ice-cream outside on the lawn. (Although, one of our readings did mention how they did not permit cyclists onto their property, so perhaps the tour guide was painting them in a better light than what they were actually like?)

Since they had no children, they left their estate to Louise’s niece, Margaret Van Alen, after Frederick’s death in 1938. Margaret attempted to sell it, for even as little as a few hundred thousand dollars, but there were no buyers. Franklin D. Roosevelt convinced her to donate it to the National Park Service, and this is the reason we are able to visit it today!

We, as a class, really enjoyed walking around the property. We especially liked walking down the massive, grassy hill by the front of the house, which led us toward trails by the Hudson River. We also explored the gardens, although not yet in bloom, and were able to appreciate the landscaping. The tour within the mansion was also very enjoyable, however, due to construction, some parts were closed.  The tour guide revealed to us at the tour’s end that the mansion has ghost stories of its own, experiences by staff members such as himself. These include hearing unidentifiable voices and footsteps!

The beautiful view from the mansion. As you can see, our class was excited to go down the hill to explore the trails and get a closer look at the Hudson River.

The view of the mansion from the bottom of the hill.

Evidence of the intricate moldings and designs within the interior of the mansion.