While communes are obviously known for their highly “communal” nature, the unique structure of the domes also allowed for an important level of privacy among community members. The domes’ prominent location and architecture, coupled with their bright white plexiglass exteriors, were also intended to draw attention to the community, and, by extension, to the issue of homelessness in America. The location of this commune within the heart of a large city is notably different than some of the back-to-the-earth communes we have studied, but its situation made sense due to the fact that it catered to an urban homeless population. Hayes’ goal was to replicate many such communities around the country, as the assembly of the domes was quick, cheap, and space-efficient. The Dome Village commune collapsed in 2006 when the rent in the area increased by 700% due to the skyrocketing value of properties in downtown Los Angeles.
Marble House; Newport, RI
Various concerns had been raised, not just from the family, that the modern structure didn’t belong on the historic grounds of The Breakers. Things turned controversial in 2018, when news broke out that Gladys and Paul Szápáry, Countess Gladys Szechenyi’s heirs, were to vacate their 12,500-square-foot quarters on the third floor of the Breakers mansion. The rest of the estate was preserved and opened to visitors as sort of a Gilded Age museum, and for many years, The Breakers was the most visited attraction in the area. The second floor of the Breakers included separate bedrooms for Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt, their daughter Gertrude’s bedroom, Countess Szechenyi’s bedroom, as well as a guest room and an upper loggia.
Inside “The Gilded Age” Tour
Though the enterprising industrialist secured the family fortune, he was known for living more or less modestly, considering his immense wealth; the Vanderbilt homes that would come to define America’s Gilded Age style were erected by his descendants. Over the years, members of the family built and reimagined a multitude of stunning residences, many of which have been registered as National Historic Landmarks. Read on for a selection of Vanderbilt family homes, including several you can visit today.
Largest houses
The Vanderbilt summer estate in Hyde Park is one of America’s premier examples of the country palaces built by wealthy industrialists during the Gilded Age. The House Institute Foundation (HIF) is a leading hearing health nonprofit focusing on neuroscience and ear research, education, and global hearing health. For over 75 years, HIF has been making groundbreaking discoveries in hearing science, providing professional and public health education programs, and increasing access to treatments, technology, and training in high-need communities locally and worldwide.
No other Gilded Age mansion had descendants of the original families living in it and the Preservation Society wanted to keep capitalizing on that. As such, they allowed Gladys and Paul to continue living on the third floor even after their mother’s death. The manor homes and city seats were designed by prominent architects of the day and decorated with antiquities, furniture, and works of art from the world over. Consisting of a Queen Anne-style cottage, the initial home was designed by architectural firm Peabody and Stearns for tobacco tycoon Pierre Lorillard IV.
Breaking ties with tradition: The Vanderbilt estate’s fate after the Commodore’s death
Though members of elite, wealthy society, Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt lived graciously without spectacle. Typical of the grand estates along the Hudson River, life at Hyde Park was rooted in the pleasures of the outdoors and genteel agrarian pursuits. House parties were leisurely and intimate, marked by games of golf or lawn tennis, carriage rides, and tea at neighboring estates. At Hyde Park, an extensive complex of greenhouses, formal gardens, and a model farm supplied flowers, produce, meats, and dairy for the Vanderbilt table wherever they were in residence.
How Many Vanderbilt Estates Are There in the U.S.?
Ted Hayes, however, a vocal Republican, suspected that politics played into the situation. The dismantled domes were sold on Ebay, at roughly $3,000 each, and the proceeds were supposed to go toward the creation of a similar community elsewhere in Los Angeles, which has yet to happen. A stone beaux-arts country house that clocks in at 44,000 square feet, the Vanderbilt Mansion boasts 54 rooms filled with rich wood paneling and European marble finishings. Admire the carved wood ceiling in the large living room, the finely furnished bedrooms, and the breathtaking views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.
In Brooklyn, This 19th-Century Carriage House Has Been Upcycled Into a Sublime $7.5 Million Home - Robb Report
In Brooklyn, This 19th-Century Carriage House Has Been Upcycled Into a Sublime $7.5 Million Home.
Posted: Tue, 21 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Explore the National Park Service
The house was designed and built between 1896 and 1899, and was primarily used as a vacation home for Frederick Vanderbilt's family. The previous owners of the estate had made it well known for its grand landscape and array of different plants and trees throughout the property. The New York Times described the Vanderbilt's estate as "the finest place on the Hudson between New York and Albany." Despite their overall delight with Hyde Park, the Vanderbilts were not entirely pleased with certain aspects of its design. Warren developed a scheme that would transform the halls on the first and second floors of the mansion and alter the living room.
The Breakers, Newport, Rhode Island
The Vanderbilt Mansion is a home built expressly for the aristocratic lifestyle for a family whose name is the very definition of wealth and privilege. The children of William Henry Vanderbilt—at one time the wealthiest man in America—were the most prolific home builders of their era. The houses, often overbearing in their display of opulence, are a stark contrast to the stately house architects McKim, Mead & White designed for Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt at Hyde Park—an understated masterpiece of American design. The house was designed by Sumner Spaulding in 1933 in the style of a French chateau.
She leased the property to The Preservation Society of Newport County in 1948, for a modicum of $1 per year. Above, the first floor features an entrance foyer, a gentleman’s reception room, a ladies’ reception room, a massive great hall, an arcade, a library, a music room, a morning room, a lower loggia, a billiards room, a dining room, a breakfast room, pantry, and kitchen. The original Breakers property was completed way back in 1878, and at the time, it was the crown jewel of Newport, Rhode Island. The Breakers mansion, a stately Beaux-Arts masterpiece that sits on a massive 13-acre estate, and fits 70 rooms in its imposing walls, is truly a home like no other. The 13-acre, 70-room Rhode Island property has a long, rich, and controversial history, which culminated in 2018, when the last of the Vanderbilt heirs moved out. Another Vanderbilt "cottage" in Newport, Marble House was the summer home of Cornelius's brother, William Kissam Vanderbilt, who gifted it to his wife, Alva, for her 39th birthday in 1892.
Despite the fact that this was a joint statement by The Preservation Society and the Vanderbilts, a lot of experts weighed in to say that this move was merely payback for the family’s opposition to the welcome center. Despite protest from historians, neighborhood groups and Vanderbilt family members, the Newport Zoning Board approved the new welcome center in 2015. Fast forward to 1972, and the society bought the property from Gladys’ daughter, Countess Sylvia Szápáry, for $365,000. Maintaining and upkeeping a property of this magnitude was no easy task, and Gladys soon found herself overwhelmed.
Experience America’s Largest Home®, as magnificent today as it was more than a century ago. Your self-guided house visit spans three floors and the basement of the luxurious family home of George and Edith Vanderbilt. Explore the stories of the Vanderbilt family, their guests, and employees through displays of vintage clothing, accessories, art, furniture, and more. Explore our history, architecture, gardens and grounds, cuisine, wine, and more with carefully curated experiences that showcase the breadth of the estate’s appeal.
Completed in 1895, this sprawling French chateau-like mansion remains the largest house in the United States. Its 33 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, three kitchens, 65 fireplaces, and many other rooms fill 175,000 square feet of living space, the equivalent of 4 acres! In addition to luxuriously appointed common areas, a grand staircase, an impressive library, and an inviting winter garden, Biltmore includes a cavernous indoor swimming pool and the nation’s first private indoor bowling alley.
The property, historically known as Hyde Park, was one of several homes owned by Frederick William Vanderbilt and his wife Louise Holmes Anthony. The 54-room Vanderbilt mansion was designed by the preeminent architectural firm McKim, Mead & White. The interiors are archetypes of the American Renaissance, blending European architectural salvage, antiques, and fine period reproductions representing an array of historical styles. The site includes 211 acres (85 ha) of the original larger property (once around 600 acres) situated on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River and includes manicured lawns, formal gardens, woodlands, and numerous auxiliary buildings. Dome Village was a utopian community founded in 1993 in downtown Los Angeles by Ted Hayes, a prominent activist for civil rights and for the homeless. The commune was created in a neglected parking lot near a freeway (part of its mission was to help fight urban decay), and was intended to provide a transitional community for roughly 30 homeless citizens not yet ready to live in a traditional home environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment