Vanderbilt Mansion (Hyde Park)

We left Rhinebeck, New York, in late August 2018, but not before taking a guided tour of the lavish Vanderbilt Mansion. Built in 1896-1899, during the Gilded Age (the period following the Civil War to the turn of the century), this was a time of unparalleled growth in industry, technology, and immigration. The Vanderbilts, who made their fortune in the railroad, were among the captains of industry who amassed unimaginable wealth, while the average annual income in the US was under $400. William and Louise Vanderbilt bought the mansion, referred to as Hyde Park, to use as their spring and fall country estate. They hired top architects to design the mansion in the neoclassical style with all the latest innovations: electricity, central heating, and indoor plumbing. Furnishings and construction costs totaled around $2,250,000.

Louise loved to entertain, throwing lavish weekend parties with horseback riding, golf, tennis, and swimming followed by formal dinners. Guests would mingle in the home’s foyer before sitting down for a seven-course dinner, a different wine being served with each course. The men and women would then split off to two separate parlors; women to discuss fashion, men to discuss business. They would then convene in the drawing room before heading off to bed at midnight.

The most important guests, determined by name and wealth, would sleep on the second floor where Fredrick and Louise also slept. Desiring to live like royalty, Louise’s room mirrors Marie Antoinette’s chambers at the Palace of Versailles in France. Of the 19 rooms on the third floor, 11 belonged to servants. The others slept on the basement level, where laundry and cooking were done. Each morning, floors were cleaned, silverware, polished, porches swept and 50 to 60 bouquets of fresh flowers were arranged throughout the home.

William and Louise did not have any children, and in 1938 the mansion was left to a niece, Margaret Louise Van Alen, who did not want it, the 30 outbuildings on the property, or the almost 70 acres of land. Following 50 years of opulence and encompassing the rise and fall of a family empire, Vanderbilt Mansion was nothing more than a relic of the Gilded Age of America. Van Alen tried to sell it for $350,000, then for $250,000, but no one bought it. This was during the end of the depression, and people couldn’t afford it, or didn’t want to live so lavishly. Upon the suggestion of her neighbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Van Alen donated the property to the National Park Service.

It was mind boggling imagining this family’s wealth, how they lived, and how their fortune was won and lost. Our tour guide captivatingly portrayed this part of history, this family’s history, in vivid terms and great detail, as we strolled the grounds and toured the house. Here are some pictures of our visit.

Top Cottage and Val-Kill Cottage Roosevelt Retreats

Besides Springwood, the family home to FDR from birth until death, both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had their own separate retreats on the estate where they could each get away to pursue their own interests. FDR’s place was called Top Cottage, and Eleanor’s was Val-Kill. We were able to walk from one to the other on the day we toured them both, where we learned a great deal about their various pursuits.

Early in his presidency, FDR imagined a refuge from the demands of the office, and when it became increasingly difficult for him to find solitude at Springwood, he began plans for Top Cottage. A place, in his words, where he could go to relax and “escape the mob”. Construction began in 1938 and FDR expected to spend time at Top Cottage during his retirement sorting his papers and collections, writing his memoirs, and maybe even take a stab at fictional detective stories. As it happened, he remained in office and used the cottage for many daytime visits between 1939 and his death in the Spring of 1945.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s legacy in human rights and world peace emerged from Val-Kill, a simple place, and her home from 1945 until her death in 1962. She described Val-Kill as the place “where I used to find myself and grow”. This was Eleanor’s place to gather family, friends, and associates, picnic, walk in the woods, ride horses, and swim. Val-Kill was both a retreat and a center of advocacy and activism. Here she also tested progressive ideas, discussed controversial issues, and inspired students and civil rights and labor leaders to debate and organize.

Here are some pictures of their respective retreats and the surrounding area