There is a song with one line that says "It takes a heap of living just to make a house a home." For all these huge, ornate palaces you showcase, how much "living" ever went on within their walls ? These mansions were not built for living but rather for display and to impress. Your videos are wonderful. I enjoy them so much. Thank you.
I absolutely love your videos. It always crushes my soul when, at the end, we're told the home was demolished. Thank you for providing such a beautiful peek into history.
Hi Ken, I have to tell you I just absolutely love watching "This House" I'm a historical building fanatic. I love seeing these homes and how they were. Keep up the great work 👍
I've said it before, I'll say it again, thank you so much for the history lessons! Your commenters are extremely knowledgeable as well! I'm glad I found your channel and became a subscriber!
Thank the Lord that all of that magnificent woodwork and stained glass was saved. I hope it is all still intact at Seaview. Thanks again for a wonderful tour.
Yes! I had the pleasure of a tour there (shhhhh) 6 years or so ago! A friend who knew people! I watched Dark Shadows religiously as a kid! I thought I recognized the house as the Dark Shadows house! What I was able to see of the interior was breath taking! I wish I had know what I was looking at back then and the history that went with it! Thanks Ken!
I am a DC native and never heard of Aladdin's Palace. What a surprise to hear you mention that it stood on the site of the Dupont Circle Building - where I once worked!
It is satisfying to know that the interiors were re-used in another home. I'm curious why it's called Aladdin's Palace. They style looks like a stream-lined Tudor (actual Tudor, not Tudor Revival) or Jacobean English estate, rather than something fantastical or Moorish. I really had no idea there were so many huge homes like this in the U.S. that were 'just torn down', not because of earthquake damage or fire, but because they were too expensive to keep.
How rich you must be to have your house taken apart and moved to your new home, I can’t even imagine how they got things to fit in the same configuration, the two houses are very different from each other. It’s so sad how all these grand homes used to line our streets only to be torn down and turned into office buildings, you would think people would have a little more pride in their historic homes . This is what makes us different from Europe, you can drive through Germany or Ireland or Paris and see structures that have existed since the renaissance, they have so much history. I guess it’s because our countries mansions were build by leaders of industry and mass fortunes that they didn’t leave to their children, whereas in European countries you will have manor houses that have held the same family line for centuries.
Your videos are awesome. Beautifully put together & illustrated with contemporary photographs. Educational & entertaining with great narration. Thank you, again Ken.
Wow they were so very lucky, to be able to sell the palace for a good price, then to buy it back with the insides intact. It's really amazing, most were not so fortunate. The palace had a very interesting life!⚘
According to everything that I have read/heard about this house states that the whole house, not just the interiors, was disassembled and added to the already existing Sea-View in Newport to become Seaview Terrace (Collinwood on the credits of the old soap "Dark Shadows"). Seaview Terrace is currently up for sale if you have a spare $29.9 million lying around. Possibly only the Longyear mansion may have been bigger when it was disassembled and moved from Marquette, MI to Brookline, MA (64 original rooms - 36 added later in MA). Thanks for this as I had never really seen much about the original D.C. mansion or its interiors.
The house in Newport that Bradley purchased was not Seaview Terrace but an existing house called Seaview, and he had Greenley add additional wings to this house along with not only the various interior items from his Washington house but exterior items too, namely the 2 towers that he brought form his house in DC to add to his new house... the added to Seaview would become Seaview Terrace...
Wow, those interiors were...busy, but I did like the dining room. It's unfortunate that so many of these buildings are demolished, but what could they realistically be used for? Even people who can afford to live like that don't wish to. A line from the film Gosford Park "does one really want the bother?"
since it is a whole different way of life the rooms they used for one thing, we dont use. We dont use reception rooms, we dont have stair halls etc. But now, we have the kitchens in the living room, that would never happen back then. I love this house but seaview terrace is my absolute favorite, and even that, while beautiful, has a not so great layout for todays standard of living.
Daily. An organist would be hired to attend every morning and play certain scales, tunes and arrangements which sent waves of vibrating notes through the entire house. The organ "music" was very healing and vibrated through the skin into the organs of the human recipients. It was basically a form of frequency or tone healing... or what we would call today, sound healing. :)
With so many intricate design choices for these grand estates, how involved were the owners? Among the Newport estates, almost every square inch of every surface is exuberant to access.
I always think that it's so sad when great old houses are demolished. This ending was unique and knowing that the former owners bought it back and saved the interiors made this much easier to take. ( somehow!)
I do not understand how these amazing architectural marvels could have been dismantled in favor of building often unattractive replacements. So many of these homes appear to have been candidates for conversion before demolition, these are really sad losses.
I thought the picture of Seaview Terrace looked familiar. As Loius said, it is the mansion called Collinwood used in the opening credits of Dark Shadows.
It's amazing what people with silly money will do with their stash. Design a mansion & then disassemble parts of it for installation elsewhere. Oh well, at least the first mansion wasn't completely demolished as a whole & parts were recycled.
Thanks for another interesting video. The only thing that I might add into your videos would be the square footage (or meters), in order to understand the size, the sheer magnitude of these ‘American Castles’. Cheers! (from a Canadian).
While city blocks vary greatly across the US, in DC they tend to be around 300x300 feet. I'll make sure to include that in the scripts of future videos.
Did you ever look into Emily Ryerson’s mansion in Chicago, Haverford PA, Cooperstown, Paris and St Jean, Cape Ferrat (Bon Ton). She was a Titanic survivor.
This was interesting. I actually thought this was going to be sold & turned into the Smithsonian as it certainly looked a lot like that building. Again, what a waste.
I just can't firgure out why people need so big house? Like most of the house is empty, i understand what bigger the richer you are/seem? But why you need a house what is empty most of the time or need so many workers just to keep the house going?
Your videos are fascinating. Thank you very much for your efforts. I understand the conversion of currency to our present date. But it doesn’t do justice to estimations of the costs of these projects to today’s dollars. Some things just cannot be duplicated today at any price.
I notice most of these homes appear to be too ornate. Over decorating can be just as bad as not decorating enough. Also, the decorations appear to be too heavy in texture.
"new money" often misfires in design choices, as they are desperate to out shine and out spend their wealthy counterpoints, and therefore end up with a space that's gaudy and over done. Happens even today. Classic case of trying too hard. Also though, these interiors were considered the height of taste in their time; color schemes, furnishings, placement, tastes change with time. In the gilded age, these homes were really more of museums to display your wealth, and how well travelled one was, not about comfort.
old growth walnut... that alone from what im seeing in the picture, would be close to the supposed 3 million dollars in today money... its just not the same to say the money has direct bias across the years
Enjoyed this, as well as all your historic house videos. I have to say, however, that the so-called colorization was, for me, far from satisfactory, and had best been eliminated, as they were severely limited in palate, and gave a ghastly impression of what should have been grand. Far better, it seems to me, to stick with black and white, than to mar your otherwise excellent productions with inferior (and historically inappropriate) colorizations.
Don't colorize. It makes the place look tacky. It's interesting how many rich Americans wanted to be European royals. I guess they had already surpassed Presidents in lifestyle.
“The other cofounder of the Bell Telephone company”? Why not say “the inventor of the ☎️?” You downsized the man who invented the forerunner to cell phones!
We misspoke in the beginning of the video. The house was built in 1876 not 1976! 😅
😁 i think we knew, you meant 1876 👍
Ya, don't let it happen again!! Jk
😂🤣😂
They went forward, then back with a time machine.
It would have been quite odd for a structure such as this to be built just one year prior to the release of Star Wars. 🧐
Love the modern day equivalents. Helps make sense of the scale of things.
There is a song with one line that says "It takes a heap of living just to make a house a home." For all these huge, ornate palaces you showcase, how much "living" ever went on within their walls ?
These mansions were not built for living but rather for display and to impress.
Your videos are wonderful. I enjoy them so much. Thank you.
My goodness, the things rich people do. Thank you
I absolutely love your videos. It always crushes my soul when, at the end, we're told the home was demolished. Thank you for providing such a beautiful peek into history.
Amazing story! Thank you for the video!
I'm in the UK, and have recently discovered your channel. I find it fascinating. Thank you!
2:44 that amount of craftsmanship is absolutely breathtaking. it's gaudy, for sure, but it is stunning.
Hi Ken, I have to tell you I just absolutely love watching "This House" I'm a historical building fanatic. I love seeing these homes and how they were. Keep up the great work 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful home! It's a shame the replacing apartment building is such an eyesore!
Wow what a great house . Very nicely presented. Good job !!!
My favorite house so far . It’s magic
I've said it before, I'll say it again, thank you so much for the history lessons! Your commenters are extremely knowledgeable as well! I'm glad I found your channel and became a subscriber!
Thank the Lord that all of that magnificent woodwork and stained glass was saved. I hope it is all still intact at Seaview. Thanks again for a wonderful tour.
I believe the house in Newport was used in the opening scene of the "Dark Shadows" soap opera, which first aired around 1966. Both houses are amazing.
That’s impossible because he said it was built in 1976 brah 😐
@@juansaladzar your wrong 1876 airhead
Yes it was, and also some scenes of the pilot as well as publicity photos with the cast were filmed there.
@@ferocient how could something be filmed before it was built? Narrator said it was built in 1976. You dumb brah? 🤔
Yes! I had the pleasure of a tour there (shhhhh) 6 years or so ago! A friend who knew people! I watched Dark Shadows religiously as a kid! I thought I recognized the house as the Dark Shadows house! What I was able to see of the interior was breath taking! I wish I had know what I was looking at back then and the history that went with it! Thanks Ken!
I am a DC native and never heard of Aladdin's Palace. What a surprise to hear you mention that it stood on the site of the Dupont Circle Building - where I once worked!
Ikr! I recognized the red and white dome bldg in background picture! Hey I recognize that bldg! Wow Dupont Circle site! Tyfs!
It is satisfying to know that the interiors were re-used in another home. I'm curious why it's called Aladdin's Palace. They style looks like a stream-lined Tudor (actual Tudor, not Tudor Revival) or Jacobean English estate, rather than something fantastical or Moorish. I really had no idea there were so many huge homes like this in the U.S. that were 'just torn down', not because of earthquake damage or fire, but because they were too expensive to keep.
Your videos are so fun! I love learning all about the old homes!
Wow, what an ornate mansion. It's nice to know that much of the interior was preserved & used elsewhere!!! Barnabas Collins is thankful!!! 🙄
😆😆😆
Awesome video my friend. Awesome story as well.
This was a very interesting video. thank you.
How rich you must be to have your house taken apart and moved to your new home, I can’t even imagine how they got things to fit in the same configuration, the two houses are very different from each other. It’s so sad how all these grand homes used to line our streets only to be torn down and turned into office buildings, you would think people would have a little more pride in their historic homes . This is what makes us different from Europe, you can drive through Germany or Ireland or Paris and see structures that have existed since the renaissance, they have so much history. I guess it’s because our countries mansions were build by leaders of industry and mass fortunes that they didn’t leave to their children, whereas in European countries you will have manor houses that have held the same family line for centuries.
Just another example of the rich having nothing better to spend their money on!😢
This one is very ornate. Quite amazing! Another great video as always!
Your videos are awesome. Beautifully put together & illustrated with contemporary photographs. Educational & entertaining with great narration. Thank you, again Ken.
Wow they were so very lucky, to be able to sell the palace for a good price, then to buy it back with the insides intact. It's really amazing, most were not so fortunate. The palace had a very interesting life!⚘
I worked in this building in Dupont Circle and didn't know this history, thanks!
According to everything that I have read/heard about this house states that the whole house, not just the interiors, was disassembled and added to the already existing Sea-View in Newport to become Seaview Terrace (Collinwood on the credits of the old soap "Dark Shadows"). Seaview Terrace is currently up for sale if you have a spare $29.9 million lying around. Possibly only the Longyear mansion may have been bigger when it was disassembled and moved from Marquette, MI to Brookline, MA (64 original rooms - 36 added later in MA). Thanks for this as I had never really seen much about the original D.C. mansion or its interiors.
@Louis, Thank you for sharing your information. It certainly added a fine update to the big picture.
Let me check my piggy bank. Might have that in there
@@zatoth13 Don't forget to look between the cushions of your sofa.😄
The house in Newport that Bradley purchased was not Seaview Terrace but an existing house called Seaview, and he had Greenley add additional wings to this house along with not only the various interior items from his Washington house but exterior items too, namely the 2 towers that he brought form his house in DC to add to his new house... the added to Seaview would become Seaview Terrace...
That's just like my home with its own theatre,gothic arches & castle like living room 😆😆😆😆 no mines a terraced house in England 🤗🤗
Wow, those interiors were...busy, but I did like the dining room. It's unfortunate that so many of these buildings are demolished, but what could they realistically be used for? Even people who can afford to live like that don't wish to. A line from the film Gosford Park "does one really want the bother?"
since it is a whole different way of life the rooms they used for one thing, we dont use. We dont use reception rooms, we dont have stair halls etc.
But now, we have the kitchens in the living room, that would never happen back then. I love this house but seaview terrace is my absolute favorite, and even that, while beautiful, has a not so great layout for todays standard of living.
I think the Newport mansion served as the exterior for Collingwood, in the spooky 1960-70s soap opera, Dark Shadows.
So many of these mansions had fantastically-expensive pipe organs installed. You have to wonder how often they were used, if ever.
Daily.
An organist would be hired to attend every morning and play certain scales, tunes and arrangements which sent waves of vibrating notes through the entire house. The organ "music" was very healing and vibrated through the skin into the organs of the human recipients. It was basically a form of frequency or tone healing... or what we would call today, sound healing. :)
Check out Organ Stop in Mesa, AZ
Loved it. So beautiful and educational. 👍🏻
Was recommended your videos recently, love it 🙂
With so many intricate design choices for these grand estates, how involved were the owners? Among the Newport estates, almost every square inch of every surface is exuberant to access.
Great content again!
I was surprised not to see a library.
I always think that it's so sad when great old houses are demolished. This ending was unique and knowing that the former owners bought it back and saved the interiors made this much easier to take. ( somehow!)
Great site.
I do not understand how these amazing architectural marvels could have been dismantled in favor of building often unattractive replacements. So many of these homes appear to have been candidates for conversion before demolition, these are really sad losses.
I would like to see some of the historic homes in Newport, R.I. I have toured a couple as a child.
Hubbard is one of the most underrated CEOs of all time.
I thought the picture of Seaview Terrace looked familiar. As Loius said, it is the mansion called Collinwood used in the opening credits of Dark Shadows.
My doctor's office is in the office building that replaced this mansion. great video!!!
Like your vids, always interesting!
What a place! The ornamentation and detail are amazing ! Does Seaview Terrace still exist with the interiors of Aladdin's palace?
What happened to the Newport house ? Or is it the next video ! Thank you for this, I love old house stories.
Lucky to have the interior pix. Ghastly, though.
It's amazing what people with silly money will do with their stash. Design a mansion & then disassemble parts of it for installation elsewhere. Oh well, at least the first mansion wasn't completely demolished as a whole & parts were recycled.
Yes I'll take it!!!
Have you ever done a video on the carpenters and stonemasons built these houses?
Thanks for another interesting video. The only thing that I might add into your videos would be the square footage (or meters), in order to understand the size, the sheer magnitude of these ‘American Castles’. Cheers! (from a Canadian).
I’m not really sure about what size a typical American neighbourhood block is (especially from the late 1800’s/early 1900’s).
While city blocks vary greatly across the US, in DC they tend to be around 300x300 feet. I'll make sure to include that in the scripts of future videos.
Thanks. I appreciate you responding and considering the. Great work. Cheers!
Did the house they moved everything to survive? Is it a museum now?
So can you tell about the 2nd house where all the inside was taken.
Stay tuned for a future video about Seaview Terrace.
Very interesting, tyfs
When a beautiful home is demolished for an ugly building, it is so sad.
Didn't realize people back in early 1900s were dealing with zoning regulations like today!
Did you ever look into Emily Ryerson’s mansion in Chicago, Haverford PA, Cooperstown, Paris and St Jean, Cape Ferrat (Bon Ton). She was a Titanic survivor.
u should do a part 2 on Seaview
We were thinking the same thing. Stay tuned!
These interiors leave me nauseated. It's just too much visual stimuli. I actually was ill while touring the Hearst mansion in California.
Wow, how "spiritually evolved" you must be, LOL.
This was interesting. I actually thought this was going to be sold & turned into the Smithsonian as it certainly looked a lot like that building. Again, what a waste.
Is the new house still standing?
I just can't firgure out why people need so big house? Like most of the house is empty, i understand what bigger the richer you are/seem? But why you need a house what is empty most of the time or need so many workers just to keep the house going?
Your videos are fascinating. Thank you very much for your efforts. I understand the conversion of currency to our present date. But it doesn’t do justice to estimations of the costs of these projects to today’s dollars. Some things just cannot be duplicated today at any price.
I notice most of these homes appear to be too ornate. Over decorating can be just as bad as not decorating enough. Also, the decorations appear to be too heavy in texture.
Totally agree. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This house gives me the creeps.
"new money" often misfires in design choices, as they are desperate to out shine and out spend their wealthy counterpoints, and therefore end up with a space that's gaudy and over done. Happens even today. Classic case of trying too hard. Also though, these interiors were considered the height of taste in their time; color schemes, furnishings, placement, tastes change with time. In the gilded age, these homes were really more of museums to display your wealth, and how well travelled one was, not about comfort.
Vestibule!!!!!
Why demolish such a beautiful facade? The Dupont Circle building is hideous beyond belief.
It was too much inside, but I am sad that house was demolished. The new building is horrible.
You know you said "The Galt Family built this home in 1976," right?
I misspoke, it was built in 1876.
old growth walnut... that alone from what im seeing in the picture, would be close to the supposed 3 million dollars in today money... its just not the same to say the money has direct bias across the years
Alban towers might make a worthy subject!? Also in D.C.
I wish your videos were longer.. I'm forced to watch loads of ads when clicking between shorter videos :(
could we possibly see the Seaview House???
Stay tuned for a future video about Seaview Terrace. Cheers!
So they bought the house again to save the interior...
What a waste to have torn that down!
1976?
Present day building is ugly. Thought they would turn it into apartments or something.
Americans are funny.....palais often get only 20, 30 years old....then get replaced by arpartmentblocks that last to this day and longer.
I think "arpartmentblocks" is funnier. LOL
While I’m truly sorry for the fate of some of these mansions Victorian interior decoration and ornamentation is a crime against humanity. 😆🥳 LOL
Ugh. What a tragedy
Enjoyed this, as well as all your historic house videos. I have to say, however, that the so-called colorization was, for me, far from satisfactory, and had best been eliminated, as they were severely limited in palate, and gave a ghastly impression of what should have been grand. Far better, it seems to me, to stick with black and white, than to mar your otherwise excellent productions with inferior (and historically inappropriate) colorizations.
what an obscene waste of money which is what most wealthy self-centered people did and still do.
1876. It sounds as if he said 1976
Don't colorize. It makes the place look tacky. It's interesting how many rich Americans wanted to be European royals. I guess they had already surpassed Presidents in lifestyle.
Way too heavy and ornate for me. 🤷♀️
They buillt it in 1976?
They made a mistake (1876), however; could you imagine if we were still building stuff like this up to the seventies?
I heard that too, but the closed caption says 1876.
1876 oopsy not 1976
Sorry, check your 1976 date . I'm gonna assume 1876is the actual date.
Correct. I misspoke, it was built in 1876.
Built in 1976?
I misspoke, it was built in 1876.
The narration says 1976 instead of 1876
“The other cofounder of the Bell Telephone company”? Why not say “the inventor of the ☎️?” You downsized the man who invented the forerunner to cell phones!
Had to dislike video I think you’re a liar. I don’t think it was built in 1976 brah 🤥