A Country Place in the Gilded Age Dasson annular The Gilded Age, the period following by building ostentatious homes, throw- In 1895 William’s son Frederick, pictured Furnishings and construction costs totaled Frederick, a quiet man, preferred to avoid and Great Depression (1930s) made their clock ing extravagant balls, and using their below right, (1856–1938) and his wife, Lou- social occasions, but Louise loved to the Civil War to the turn of the century, around $2,250,000. upkeep all but impossible. was a time of unparalleled growth in money to buy social prominence, as ise, (1854–1926) pictured far right, bought entertain, throwing lavish weekend industry, technology, and immigration. gilded—all show, no substance. Hyde Park to use as their spring and Hyde Park was in many ways self- parties with horseback riding, The couple had no children and left Captains of industry, men like Corne- fall country estate. McKim, Mead sustaining, providing food and golf, tennis, and swimming the Hyde Park mansion to Louise’s lius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt & White, America’s top architec- flowers for the family’s needs followed by formal dinners niece, Margaret Louise Van Alen, Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and (1794–1877) rose from poverty to ture firm, designed the mansion here and at their other and dancing. When Lou- who tried to sell the estate but others amassed unimaginable wealth, become a shipping and railroad tycoon. in the neoclassical style with homes. When the Vander- ise died in 1926, Freder- found no buyers. Her neigh- while the average annual income in the He turned a 100-dollar loan from his Beaux-Arts ornamentation bilts were in residence, as ick sold his other houses bor, President Franklin D. US was around $380, well below the parents into a multi-million dollar for- and incorporated the latest many as 60 staff worked and returned to this Roosevelt, suggested she do- National Park Service Park National U.S. Department of the Interior poverty line. tune and left the bulk of his money to innovations: electricity, cen- here. Staff lived on or near estate for the last 12 nate the estate to the National his eldest son William. tral heating, and indoor the property and attended years of his life. He was Park Service as a monument The term ‘Gilded Age’ was coined by plumbing. They added the to the grounds and exten- active in business, di- to the Gilded Age. She agreed Mark Twain and Charles Dudley William expanded the railroad opera- Pavilion, a coach house, pow- sive farm. Personal staff recting 22 railroads un- and the Vanderbilt Mansion Warner in their 1873 book, The Gilded tions, doubling the Vanderbilt fortune er station, gate houses, two traveled with the Vander- til his death in 1938. His National Historic Site opened Age: A Tale of Today. The term refers to in just eight years, but his eight children new bridges over Crum Elbow bilts and lived in the man- estate totaled $76 million, to the public in 1940. The farm- the process of gilding an object with a lived lives of excess, extravagance, and Creek, boat docks, a railroad sion with the family. Seasonal over $1.2 billion today. lands were not part of the dona- superficial layer of gold to improve its self-indulgence. They built 40 opulent station, and extensive landscap- laborers were hired from the tion and remain in private hands. appearance. Established millionaires mansions and country estates, and ing. Many of the mansion’s contents community and lived in the Gilded Age estates like this The lavish mansion and its contents viewed nouveau riche families like the entertained lavishly, largely depleting were bought in Europe from wealthy servants’ quarters. flourished in the 1890s—until the remain virtually unchanged from the Vanderbilts, who flaunted their wealth the family money. families who had fallen on hard times. income tax (1913), World War I (1914), time the Vanderbilts lived here. SHELBURNE FARMS ARCHIVES Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site Historic National Mansion Vanderbilt New York View of Hudson River MATTHEW GARRET The Vanderbilts in America: A Rise to Wealth 1650 Jan Aertsen Van Der Bilt is the first 1830s–40s Cornelius expands shipping 1870s Cornelius consolidates two core 1895 Frederick and Louise purchase 1949 65 million passengers pass through Vanderbilt ancestor known to reside in empire, begins railroad management. companies, creating New York Central & Hyde Park estate. GCT, equivalent to 40 percent of the America. Hudson Railroad. William slashes costs, American population. 1841 William marries Maria Kissam. They increases efficiency, turning it into one of 1899 Grand Central Depot is enlarged 1794 Cornelius “Commodore” Vander- have eight children. the most profitable large enterprises in and becomes Grand Central Station. 1950s Glory days of rail travel end. bilt born on Staten Island, New York City, America. to Cornelius and Phebe Hand Vanderbilt. 1851 Cornelius’ Accessory Transit Com- 1904–13 The new Grand Central Termi- 1967 GCT designated New York City pany provides shorter, cheaper transpor- 1871 Cornelius opens Grand Central nal (GCT) is built in sections on Depot landmark, saving it from demolition. 1810 Cornelius borrows $100 from par- tation from New York to San Francisco. Depot on 42nd Street, New York City, site. Design insures trains are not delayed. ents and buys first two-masted sailing He gains national prominence. the largest train station in North America. 1968 New York Central merges with barge to start a ferry service from Staten 1926 Louise dies. Pennsylvania Railroad to form Penn Island to Manhattan. 1856 Frederick, sixth child, is born to 1877 Cornelius dies. William inherits Central. William and Maria. most of father’s fortune, nearly $100 mil- 1938 Frederick dies, leaves Hyde Park 1817 Cornelius captains a steamship for lion, to great displeasure of his siblings. estate to niece Margaret Louise Van Alen. 1970 Penn Central files for bankruptcy Thomas Gibbons and assists in legal battle 1861–65 During the Civil War Cornelius and is dissolved by the courts. against steamship monopolies, opening donates steamship to the Union Navy. 1878 Frederick graduates from Sheffield 1940 Vanderbilt Mansion National the way for his own shipping business. Receives Congressional Gold Medal. Scientific School (Yale). Marries Louise Historic Site established. 1994 Metro-North takes over GST Acquires and consolidates rail lines in Anthony. operation, restores it to 1913 splendor. 1821 William Henry Vanderbilt, one of 13 the Northeast and Midwest. children and first son, born to Cornelius 1885 William dies, leaving an estate of and first wife Sophia. $195 million to his eight children. The reflecting pool is a focal point of the formal gardens. ALL PHOTOS NPS UNLESS NOTED The Vanderbilts constructed the all– electric Grand Central Terminal (above, ca.1916) when steam locomotives were MATTHEW GARRET The 1903 Millionaire View of Hudson River from Hyde Park (left). Households advised banned in New York City following a Constructed in 1897 the White Bridge was one of In 1910 the Coach House, which originally Guests were greeted at the beautiful front how to manage your fatal crash in 1902. the first steel and concrete bridges in the US. Charles F. McKim, architect, housed carriages and stables, was converted entrance (above). home. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS designed Hyde Park. to include a garage. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS © RICHARD CHEEK Vanderbilt Mansion Vanderbilt East facade of 1873 novel by Twain and Warner (right). Hyde Park NEARBY ATTRACTIONS To Rhinebeck To Rhinebeck Bard 0 1 Kilometer (see map at left) Rock 0 1 Mile Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt Visitor Center North To Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site National Historic Site Overlook and Eleanor Roosevelt HUDSON RIVER Bard Rock R National Historic Site E 41 V I Crum t St Elbow R Franklin D. Roosevelt R arke d East M H Presidential Library and Museum Pavilion y Hyde Park d To 16 and e Taconic State Parkway N Vanderbilt P a O 9G 9 r S k 9 Mansion D T r U a Parking i Home of l H Franklin D. Roosevelt Eleanor National Historic Site Roosevelt National Wallace Haviland Historic Site Center FDR Presidential Library and Museum Springwood (Home of FDR) Top 40A Cottage To Poughkeepsie and 84 To Poughkeepsie Gingko Tree Tool House A LEGACY OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN The estate’s landscape was first developed by cottage, tool house, and garden walls. These Dr. Samuel Bard, who died here in 1821. In structures, the only ones to pre-date Vander- Gardener’s the European picturesque style, he planted bilt ownership, still exist. Vanderbilt rede- Cottage exotic plants and probably the ginkgo tree, signed the formal gardens and planted hun- one of the continent’s oldest, dating to 1799. dreds of trees and shrubs. On weekends Bard’s son William sold the estate to his Frederick and Louise liked to walk through Site of Greenhouses father’s medical partner Dr. David Hosack, the gardens twice a day. Today the landscape, who built the first formal gardens and green- restored to its 1930s appearance, encompass- houses. After his death the estate was broken es five acres of tiered gardens, gravel paths, up. Later Walter Langdon, Jr. reunited the shady arbors, ornate statues, and bubbling estate, laid out formal gardens, and hired fountains. Boston architects to design a gardener’s MAP ART BY POWER ENGINEERS FORMAL GARDENS White Bridge R E E K W C L B O E U M C R ENTRANCE D A O R WELCOME TO HYDE PARK, one For INFORMATION on visiting MORE INFORMATION OUR PARTNERS of the area’s oldest Hudson River hours, fees, and tour times, call or Vanderbilt Mansion Roosevelt-Vanderbilt T S country estates and a superb visit our website.