I am building up a collection of Vanderbilt and associated homes as I work through the family tree.
677 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan NY — Home of Gen. Brigadier Cornelius Vanderbilt III, great-grandson of the Commodore, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II & Alice Claypoole Gwynne. According to the Wikipedia entry, this three-story brownstone was left to him by George Washington Vanderbilt.
Blenheim Palace (Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England) — Consuelo Vanderbilt, after marriage to the Duke of Marlborough, became mistress of this palace. [Official Website | Wikipedia Entry]
Breakers (Newport, Rhode Island) - Home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and wife Alice, next to Vinland Estate, the home of Cornelius’ sister Florence. Built from 1893-1895. Their granddaughter Sylvia sold the estate to the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1972. Sylvia’s children currently live in a restricted area of the home; the rest being open to tourists. [Official Website | Wikipedia Entry]
Florham (Madison, New Jersey) – Home of Florence Vanderbilt & husband Hamilton McKay Twombly. Sold after Florence’s death to Fairleigh Dickinson University. [History of the Estate]
High Lawn Farms (Lee, Massachussetts) – was the family estate of Lila Vanderbilt Sloane Field and husband William Broadhurst Osgood Field. In 1935, the estate was taken over by their daughter, Marjorie, and her husband H. George Wilde. The farm is a dairy farm with an original mission to develop a New Jersey cow that would last long in a herd. http://www.highlawnfarm.com
Idle Hour (Oakdale, Long Island) – home of William Kissam Vanderbilt Sr and wife Alva Erskine Smith. The home burned down in 1899. A second mansion was erected and now is part of the campus of Dowling College.
Rough Point (Newport, Rhode Island) – home of the Commodore’s grandson, Frederick William Vanderbilt. Finished in 1892. At the time of commissioning, the home was the largest one in Newport. Vanderbilt sold the home in 1906. It was opened up as a museum in 2000. [Official Website | Wikipedia Entry ]
Sagamore Farm (Glyndon, Maryland) - inherited by Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. on his 21st birthday from his mother, Mrs. Margaret Emerson Vanderbilt. On the farm Alfred raised thoroughbred horses. [Wikipedia Entry]
Shelburne Farms (Shelburne, Vermont)- created in 1866 by Lila Vanderbilt & husband Seward Webb. In 1972 it became a non-profit. [Official Website]
Vanderbilt Mansion @ Hyde Park (Hyde Park, New York) – built in 1895, this was the home of Frederick William Vanderiblt and wife Louise. Frederick was a grandson of the Commodore, son of William Henry Vanderbilt. The home is now listed as a National Historic Site with the National Park Service. [NPS Website]
Vinland Estate (Newport, Rhode Island)- Built in 1882 and sold to Florence Vanderbilt and husband Hamilton McKay Twombly in 1896. In 1955, after Florence’s death, her daughter donated it to Salve Regina University and it is now MAauley Hall. It was right next door to The Breakers, the estate of Florence’s brother, Cornelius Vanderbilt II. [ McAuley Hall | Wikipedia Entry]
[...] Homes [...]
677 is supposed to be 640 Fifth Avenue.
It was originally built by William Henry Vanderbilt, son of the Commodore. It was a triple house with the largest section for himself, and two smaller (but still grand) houses for two of his daughters, Margaret Vanderbilt Shepard, located at 2 West 52nd Street, and Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, located at 642 Fifth Avenue. After WHV died, he left it to his wife and youngest son, still living at home, and after Maria Kissam Vanderbilt died, it was George Vanderbilt’s alone. Later, Margaret sold her half, or third, to her sister Emily, who combined them into a house roughly the size of what her father’s, or brother’s now, was. George then leased the house to Henry Clay Frick to help subdue the debts incurred with the building of his famous Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. HCF lived there until 1914 when GWV died and the house reverted to the oldest son of his oldest brother. That was Cornelius Vanderbilt III. His father, Cornelius II (died in 1899) had disinherited “Neily” for marrying a woman named Grace Wilson. Her family had a reputation as being “fast” and gold diggers. It was luck that Neily should then years later, inherit the family mansion. (During the tenure of Grace and Neily, Emily Sloane, now White, sold her half of the house, which was demolished.) Grace Vanderbilt, upon seeing the interior for the first time, called it “the black hole of Calcutta” and called in prominent architect Horace Trumbauer to do a cellar-to-attic renovation. She reigned over society for many years from 640, until escalating property taxes and encroaching commercialization forced her to sell the manse. She moved to the William Starr Miller house further up Fifth Avenue in the early 1950s and the house was replaced with a banal, ordinary skyscraper.
Be sure to include:
-660 Fifth Avenue, built by William K. and Alva Vanderbilt. (This house changed American architecture)
-1 West 57th Street, built by Cornelius II and Alice Vanderbilt. After a large renovation and expansion, this house became the largest private home in NYC history.
-Marble House, built by William K. and Alva Vanderbilt. Considered architect Richard Morris Hunt’s masterpiece.
-Woodlea, built by Margaret Vanderbilt Shepard.
-Elm Court, built by Emily Vanderbilt and WD Sloane. After many renovations, it has become the largest shigle-style house in America with 96 rooms.
-Eagle’s Nest, built by William K Vanderbilt II. Sprawling Mediterreanean style estate on Long Island.
-Beacon Towers, built by Alva Vanderbilt (now) Belmont. Built by Hunt and Hunt, the sons of her great friend and architect, Richard Morris Hunt.
-477 Madison Avenue, built by Alva Vanderbilt (now) Belmont. Alva gave up 660 in her divorce with William K and then married Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, a good family friend. They planned and started building this house together, but OHPB died before it was completed. Alva finished it as a tribute (if not a shrine) to her husband.
Just a few more for the list.