What Happened to Vanderbilt's Hyde Park Mansion in New York?

The Vanderbilts were called American royalty,  and for good reason. Hi everyone, ken here,   welcome to this house. Today we are exploring  the Palatial Vanderbilt Mansion known as Hyde   Park. Make sure to hit that subscribe button so  you never miss an exciting episode of this house. Frederick William Vanderbilt was born in the third  generation of Vanderbilt wealth. He had as much   free time as he did extra money and was able to  pursue his passions, including horticulture. He   and his wife Louise Holmes Anthony Torrance  were visiting with their dear friends at the   Mills Mansion when they fell in love with the  natural beauty of Dutchess County New York. Around the same time, an estate known  as Hyde Park had been put up for sale   by Dorothea Astor’s descendants. Hyde  Park was a historic estate which had been   established in 1705 when Queen Anne granted  Pier Fauconnier 10,000 acres. Over the years,   an ever expanding mansion was built up with  manicured gardens surrounding the house and   lining the Hudson river. Its various owners  over the years all seemed to have a keen   sense for horticulture as exotic plants were  grown to maturity for centuries at Hyde Park. This diverse landscape of rare and exotic  plants coupled with the views of the   Hudson River are what compelled Frederick to  purchase the now 600 acre estate. In 1895,   the Vanderbilts hired the architectural  firm McKim, Mead, and White to demolish   the 190 year old mansion and re imagine  a palace in its place. At a grand cost   of 660,000 dollars, or the modern day  equivalent of over 23 million dollars,   a 54 room Beaux Arts style mansion dominated  the views from the gardens. Coming in at over   44,000 square feet, the exterior was finished out  with Indiana Limestone with porticos fashioned   in the Corinthian order protruding from each  face of the home. The Frieze above the columns   was embellished with relief work featuring  lions heads set amongst twisting garland.   This theme continued vertically up the linear  architectural elements exaggerating the height   of the already colossal mansion. The back side  of the house broke with the rectilinear façade to   feature a semi circular portico with a radially  coffered ceiling inset with limestone flowers. The Entrance hall served as an elliptical  circulation space from which the other   rooms of the main floor were anchored.  Set in the center was a large fireplace   featuring maidens symbolizing fertility on  its lower mantle which had been salvaged from   a European palace. Set in the ceiling  was an octagonal oculus opening to the   second floor. This room was thought of as  an informal space decorated with comfortable   furniture where you might find guests napping  on the sofas after a long day of socializing. The living room was more formal with  walnut wall panels heavily embellished   with carvings surrounding the windows  and the marble fireplaces. The ceiling   was coffered with ornamental plasterwork  dividing the room into 3 distinct bays. The dining room continued with walnut wall panels  set below a ceiling which had been salvaged from   an Italian palazzo dating back to the 1600s. Two  fireplaces in the dining room had been salvaged   from buildings a century older with carvings  featuring both the Medici Family coat of arms   and the other featuring reliefs depicting  the Judgement of Paris. Below the dining   room table was the most valuable item in the  entire house. Measuring at 20 feet by 40 feet,   the 400 year old Islamic rug is one of  the largest of its kind in existence. The grand staircase twisted at its landing  with layers of millwork continuing its form   as it wrapped about painted wall  panels towards the second floor. Arriving at the second floor, you would  enter a grand hall mirroring the shape   of the entrance hall with balustrade  surrounding the oculus cutting a void   to the floor below illuminated by  a skylight mirroring the oculus   above. the ceiling rounded out with pointed  arches vaulting towards each passage way. To one end is the bedroom of Mrs. Vanderbilt  which was modeled after the sleeping chambers   of European royals and decorated in the  Louis the Fifteenth Style with a distinct   railing surrounding her bed. The wall panels  were gilted with murals appearing in their   upper portions below a frieze boasting figures  almost appearing to dance about the ceiling. Mr. Vanderbilt’s bedroom was dramatically  decorated with rose and gold tones set   against a deep green wallpaper.  The ceiling fixture radiated with   decorative beams reaching towards  corbels protruding from the frieze. Each bedroom had it’s own color based theme   such as the pink bedroom set with  single bed and all light furniture. There was also the large red  bedroom providing more space   for guests to spread out for extended stays. Similarly, the mauve bedroom contained overstuffed   furniture ensuring guests  would feel right at home. On the third floor there were 5 additional  guest suites as well as servants quarters. Though the mansion was only occupied  for a few months out of the year,   Mr Vanderbilt kept in close contact with the  gardener as he had personally planted over   2,000 rose bushes and laid out the Italian  levelled gardens. His passion for gardening   continued until the unexpected death of his wife  in 1926. He spent the rest of his life grieving   her loss, shutting out friends and family  he became a recluse and spent the rest of   his life living on the third floor with his  servants until his passing 12 years later. He never had any children, so he left Hyde Park  to his niece, Daisy post whose home Wakehurst we   covered in a previous video. Daisy was already  quite comfortable with her own mansions, so she   attempted to sell it. But the great depression  was raging on and no buyers could be found. Eventually rumors spread that the house  would be demolished. By this time,   President Roosevelt was in office. He had  grown up in the area and had always felt   a connection to the house. He convinced Daisy  Post to convey the mansion along with 211 of   its acres to the federal government to create a  national park under the National Park Service. Since then, the mansion has been  carefully maintained and restored   with visitors able to tour  the house every year since. Thank you all for watching I really hope  that you enjoyed this video. I would also   like to take a moment to say a special thank  you to our this house supporters whose names   you can see on screen right now. If you  would like to see your name on this screen   please consider joining our membership program  today. I’ll see you next time on this house!

Channel: This House

Views: 93,773

Keywords: vanderbilt mansion, vanderbilt mansion national historic site, vanderbilt, mansion, gilded age, the gilded age, history documentary, the gilded age hbo, history, history shows, historical photos, famous, interesting, original, this house, what is this, what is This, history tour, documentary, documentaries, architecture, historic architecture, american castle, us history, architectural history, hyde park, frederick vanderbilt

Id: vz47dbnTGJQ

Length: 6min 28sec (388 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 30 2022