What Happened to Cornelius Vanderbilt II's Mansion in Manhattan? (SEE PINNED COMMENT)
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
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You've heard about keeping up with the Jones'... but what happens when you take that to extremes? Join us as we explore the largest house to have ever been built in New York.
Location: Manhattan, New York
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What Happened to Cornelius Vanderbilt II's Mansion in Manhattan? (SEE PINNED COMMENT)
• What Happened to Corne...
Fair-use Photos from: CTPost www.ctpost.com... , Wisconsin Historical Society
Photos from: Flickr User: Wally Gobetz, Flickr user xiquinhosilva, New York Public Library, Wikipedia User: Summ
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Fair-use Photos from: CTPost www.ctpost.com... , Wisconsin Historical Society
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This video has been updated with more photos and information: ruclips.net/video/ZbLEUKtGkmw/видео.html
My Swedish grandmother worked as the 2nd cook there, and told me she saw the mistress of the house only twice - her back entering a carriage. She cooked for all the servants while the first cook cooked for the mistress. And she learnt to drive by the German drivers inside the private park at the summer home.. It all sounded so exotic!
Wow! Thank you for sharing!
poser weaks making up tall stories
Amazing 😍
Were the slave quarters in little shacks out back of the big house?
@@SymphonyBrahms Um the house was built after slavery ended and was not allowed in NY...geeze!
I've said this before and I'll say it again: Cities looked classier and friendlier with the old architecture. Modern cities look cold and soulless with all those glass skyscrapers. At least that mansion could have been turned into a hotel or a museum.
The ground it's on is worth too much.
Those houses cost a fortune to upkeep, some of the Vanderbilts went bankrupt trying to keep up their mansions.
@@bigredc222 You have a point, but there's more to life than money and business.
@@mrs.g.9816 I love old things, I collect and restore old tools and machines, I've spent many hours fixing old things that would make much more sense to replace.
I'm a construction electrician, and my house is full of old electric devices that I've saved from being thrown away.
Before the Democrats ruined all of the great eastern cities!
Now the degradation continues along the great western cities.
@@bigredc222 The Federal Government instituted the Income Tax way back then, & that really did them in!!’n
I love that she tried to preserve as much of the mansion as she could and that some of it still exists today.
!
It doesn't matter, because God is about to destroy the USA. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17, KJV). Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Establish the Kingdom in Jerusalem, and keep the world safe from Democracy!
@David Lafleche Yeah sure buddy. Sadly, Zeus begs to differ.
@@chasbodaniels1744 Thanks for the chuckle. 😅
Absolutely! ❤️
I was a private nurse to a woman who lived in a beautiful mansion in Reading PA. Look it up," Stirling" bed n breakfast now. I was privileged to know Gertrude Sternbergh for the last 5years of her life. And even though she owned a mansion it was her beloved home. She was such a nice n humble woman. She was born in 1899 n died in 1996 if my horrible memory is right. She owned the entire block on Center avenue. The house Stirling is alot like it was when Gertrude was alive ,the amazing woodwork is beautiful. But it is no longer the Home that it was for the simple reason the lady of the manor no longer resides but is across the street in the cemetery. She breathed life n love always in her home. N even though it was her home her entire life she still in her late 90 felt lucky to live in such a beautiful home. N I was very lucky to have known her. She is greatly missed.
Bergdorf Goodman has occupied that location since about 1927, I never understood why the house wasn't modified to accommodate the upscale department store. They could have had the most sumptuous backdrop for their merchandise imaginable, and preserved an architectural marvel at the same time. I never knew Mrs Vanderbilt opened the house to the public before it was razed.
That is what Ralph Lauren did with the magnificent Rhinelander French Renaissance chateau on Madison Avenue when it was turned into his men's store. The only adjustment needed was a 2nd entrance/exit (which this Vanderbilt mansion already had) for fire code compliance. Morton Plant swapped his 653 Fifth Avenue mansion for a pearl necklace (pre-cultured pearl era); it is still Cartier's NYC store.
@@lj5801 I didn't know that. How fantastic that the home was used nearly as is. As for the swapping a house for a pearl necklace, that's a "world" so far-removed from my own. I guess that's partly why we watch these videos.
@@twistoffate4791 Speaking of a twist of fate: just after the swap, Mikimoto figured out how to create cultured pearls. The value of Mrs Plant's necklace tanked - the value of the mansion went through the roof!
@@lj5801 Oh, geez!! What a catastrophic goods exchange. I was sorta wondering, even with my love of pearls, what the quality of the string in question was. I'm glad you spoke up to provide the footnote.
@@twistoffate4791 Actually one thing more. Mrs Plant divorced Morton and became Mrs Rovensky (built Clarendon Court in Newport - where the von Bulow overdose case happened). He gave her one heck of a diamond necklace!
Boy do I wish I was around in 1926 and see the inside of that mansion. I am a New Yorker.
I don’t know how I found myself on your channel, but I love it so much! I live in an 80 year old small home and it has so much more personality than the new McMansions on the hill. I even got a ghost, the original owner.
Does he pay rent?🤣🤣
@@victordepaul1061 NOOO! That would be crass 😉
Does the ghost visit you often?
@@Texaslawhorn it’s so funny, he only hangs out when we are remodeling anything, it doesn’t get him angry. I think he likes that we are fixing it up. The guy we bought it from had not taken care of the house and the lawn. He was hanging out this week because I was contemplating taking the front lawn out and putting in a rock garden because of drought. Once I promised him I would never make it ugly he stopped pacing my hall.
Now how many people think I’m nuts? Haha
@@ReesieandLee I think that's neat!
I don't envy the rich lifestyle, however I do enjoy looking at the architecture of the houses that they have built.
I love the grand public spaces from that time.
The train stations, the theaters, the libraries, government buildings.
It's as if there was a desire to make beautiful architecture available to the masses that you just don't have these days.
Many have been demolished or privatized and turned into corporate space or luxury condos.
The whole idea of providing great architecture available to everyone seems to have vanished.
@@claudermiller my apologies for not responding sooner but it's been a hectic day 🙃. Yes I miss many of the older buildings along with the beautiful architecture that went with them. I can't stand to see beautiful old homes made into businesses or see them knocked down and some modern architectural buildings being put in their place. There were some very grand designs and it's my hope that we don't lose all of them that there are people out there who have the money to save them and keep them as homes and or businesses 😉. Have a good evening.
@@baffledanderanged2101 I can tell you this, when I was a boy in the 1960s Mad Men era and we went sightseeing and walking around Midtown Manhattan the tall box architecture of office buildings did not appeal to me. But as we walked by older buildings they had class. The Pennsylvania station of today is nothing but a very large subway station for Amtrak and NJ Transit and Long Island Railroad trains. When compared to the original that opened in 1910 that replaced the one in Jersey City, N.J. that opened in 1890. That had ferries to the Financial District and the West Side of Manhattan.
Personally, I'd love a 2-br ranch house in Lancaster, N.H.; but, alas, I'm not a millionaire.
The outside looks grand but busy to me. The interiors are completely over done. Busy does not even begin to describe it. we complain about the rich today but these would be billion dollar homes today. Inflation equivalent do not work on these homes.
To me, it's a sin, taking these old homes down. They should still be standing if for no other reason than to use as a museum. The gate from the home at central park I've walked through a few times had no idea until now the significance of the gate. Thankfully Biltmore castle still stands bc that family was smart with it!
Well Biltmore was thankfully not built in a major growing city 👍🏻
Why is it a sin to tear down these huge monstrosities. They represent gluttonous wealth which is even more of a sin.
@@cjhoward409 Amongst its original 3,000 mountainous wooded acres!
Part of the allure in visiting Europe for me is to see those old mansions. America was so anti Europe and greedy they destroy anything of visual value.
Yeah but I’d be hard pressed to find anyone who could pass up $100 million lol
This is fascinating history! The story of the family who lived in this mansion can be found in the book "Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt". A good read for those interested in the Gilded Age in New York City.
Unbelievable......but coming from NC and seeing the Biltmore house.....l can only imagine this homes beauty and elegance.
One of the problems people have when they don't toil to earn their own money, is that nothing is ever enough! I enjoy visiting the Gilded Age mansions, they are our American palaces and castles, but can't imagine living in one.
Christian Capitalists were not "Royalty" but they certainly brought their Greed Philosophy to this Nation. I've never figured out why Humans didn't care enough to control our environment. ✌
this is an interesting take. i've heard of many people who have "toiled" to make their own money yet buy literally anything and everything they see. greed is greed, no matter how much you earn.
This crazy house building is one of the reasons the Vanderbilt money ran out. There were many other, more significant reasons, but this certainly contributed.
Cornelius Vanderbilt also owned The Breakers, in Newport, R.I. How much was enough?
Cornielus should have stopped while he was a head. What can I say? Some people.
Money often comes and then goes! A case similar to ordering a huge dinner with eyes being bigger than the stomach, same kind of wasteful situation! Shameful.
I love this channel. I'm originally from St Louis but have been gone since the the mid '80s. I've lived a lot of places and currently live in Sheki, Azerbaijan. St. Louis is still my favorite city. Everytime I see a new video from This House, I get a warm blast of energy to my heart. I'm a big fan. Thanks for all your hard work.
How'd you end up so far from home? Military? Mission work?
I can imagine if the mansion was still intact today. It would have been carved up into MANY separate residential units and Cash Jordan would be promoting them on his RUclips channel! “The most affordable apartment in the old Vanderbilt mansion! How much? Five thousand a month for a one bedroom apartment!”
I love it! I'm trying to picture Cash in one of those apartments saying, "...and a sink sprayer. Could you make this work for you?" He would also warn us about any Dunkin' Donuts franchises in the area. Vanderbilts and cash, Vanderbilts and Cash, I think I see a workable arrangement here!
@@andrewbrendan1579 in an alternate universe, alternate universe!
@@andrewbrendan1579 😂😂🤣🤣
Ma'am, many 1BR apartments in New York go for 5,000/mo. In my own crummy turn-of-the-20th-Century non-modernized, no-amenity tenement building, a 450sq. ft 2BR (bedrooms are approx 8x15ft) currently rents for about 3,500.
Seems kinda cheap lol
I’m glad that at least the “Breakers” mansion was saved. The Breakers is absolutely stunning; words and pictures cannot describe its magnificent opulence and marvel of architecture. I toured the Newport “cottages” some years back and I’m so glad I did 🥰.
The Vanderbilts spent their inheritances building magnificent manses. Amazing! Thank you! ❤🇺🇸
Such a BEAUTY.... it can become one of the most Luxurious boutique hotel in NYC, and provide jobs opportunities for the community.
With such refinement and taste, that a city can be proud of.
So sad, that it's gone. Because, beauty as refined as this, will never happen again.
Just amazing what the wealthy built back then! It's ashame that so many of these mansions of that Era are no longer with us. If it's not enough, just build a massive summer home! Another great informative video Ken!
Newport.
Those people also built "weekend retreats" in the Hudson River Valley, and on Long Island,
Great Camps in the Adirondacks (and elsewhere) as well as mansions in Palm Beach Florida.
Well, I guess that Cornie believed in the old adage that "you can't take it with you" and spent money like there was no tomorrow, which eventually, there wasn't a tomorrow for him.
Good video.
What money was left was spent by his heirs.
The chandelier seen in the photograph of the Moorish smoking room was bought by Loew's, Incorporated, and hung for decades in the lobby of the Loew's State Theatre in Syracuse, NY (which was a far eastern extravaganza designed by theatre architect Thomas Lamb). Unfortunately it disappeared in the 1970s and its fate seems to be a mystery.
I liked the story about the beautiful metal gates, now in central park
The Jones mansion(s) was diagonally across 5th and 57th from this mansion.
The first photo you use is deceptive: for years I thought that the home in the background was a part of the Vanderbilt mansion, but it's a separate building on W 58th.
The Breakers that Cornelius bought from the Lorrilards is not what is there now (shown in your video). It was a large shingle style home that burned down when the boiler malfunctioned. He then built what we now know as the Breakers but with the boilers under the gatekeeper's house and heat piped up to the "cottage."
This was the only mansion on 5th Ave where someone (Mr. Vanderbilt in the case) could move his bedroom one whole city block when he objected to having to see the nude bronze rear end of the statue of the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel pointing at his bedroom window. The only other person who could come close to doing that would have been Charles Schwab in his Riverside Ave mansion between W 73rd and W 74th Sts. (A fitting mansion for your series.)
Thank you for providing that bit of information, cheers!
@@ThisHouse I want to correct a mistake that I made. The Jones houses (built to look like a unified whole) were directly across 5th Ave, not diagonally: that was the Collis P Huntington mansion [on the current Tiffany's site].
I second the motion! I'd love to see a video about the Schwab mansion, another house that should still be in use today but has been gone for many decades.
Reminds me of the families like those who lived in Downton Abbey and Godsford Park. The built such huge mansions and had such big staffs, that they were effectively in debt just to keep the household running. Then, the price of labor went up.
Property taxes were the problem.
If you watch any of those specials on stately homes in England they work their asses off to keep those places running. Where there was once 40 gardeners it’s down to one & part time help.
@@samanthab1923 yeah, you're right different times
Just randomly found your channel! This wonderful. TU for posting.
I watch a British news caster daily that has a side panel of his screen showing all the beautiful old buildings & gardens(we had the opportunity to meet the cat that guards 10 Downing St!) I truly wish we had more regard for the history that these beautiful buildings hold. I’m a New Englander & they rarely tear down anything. Most newer buildings have to fit in with the historical area.
Oh, yes, I was referring to Neil Sean here on yt. He’s known many greats & interviewed ton of the ton. Very funny guy!
Thanks for the great video. The Vanderbilt homes have always intrigued me; I've visited the Biltmore, but the William K Vanderbilt home on 5th Avenue is probably my favorite and I wish it was still around so I could tour it as well.
You might be interested in the book "Fortunes Children--the Fall of the House of Vanderbilt" by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II. It's one of the most engrossing, page-turning books I've ever read. You may already know this but, I was surprised to learn that not one of the many Vanderbilt mansions was occupied family members for more than one generation.
Extra great job on this one! "He became insecure about the size of his mansion". LOL. That amount of wealth boggles the mind. It would take hours just to walk from one end of the place to the other. From the portrait I noticed a bit of resemblance to Anderson Cooper.
I caught that, too, and had myself a smirk.
Your comment reminded me of a hilarious comedy sketch from "The Carol Burnett Show" back in the 70's, a spoof of Joan Crawford movies called "Torchy Lady". Carol as Joan says (this is my best recollection) to her downtrodden maid (Vickie Lawrence), "Problems? You think you have problems? Do you know what it's like to walk into a restaurant and have everybody stare at you? Do you know what it's like to have a house so big you wander around day after day...just trying to find a bathroom? Do you know what it's like to have your pool heater malfunction? DO YOU? (Sobbing) These are the problems I live with every day so you just be glad that you're plain and untalented and poor!" One of the funniest scenes ever and it may be on You Tube.
@@andrewbrendan1579 Yes!! I loved The Carol Burnett Show & have watched each eagerly-welcomed episode at least twice. I remember the skit & am glad you brought it up. Great cast & fun guests, too.
@@twistoffate4791 I used to watch Carol Burnett with my Mom on Saturday nights when I was a kid. The "Went with the Wind" skit with the curtain rod dress is a favorite. I loved watching Harvey Korman turn every shade of red trying not to bust out laughing at Tim Conway. Great memories!
@@SpanishEclectic Yes! The best of times.
I've been in the home building industry for over 24 years...man would I love to walk through some of these amazing homes! Pretty crazy how awesome they looked back the VS now.
fantastic
video thank you, such sad endings to a wondrous gilded although excess and decadent age
Have visited the Breakers many times.. Beautiful...
I really wish the State of New York preserved these beautiful buildings, they are indescribable, beyond awesome!
NYS and the National Park
Service have preserved many
of these types of buildings that
were built along the Hudson River
The state has also preserved
historic houses throughout the
state including some of the Great
Lodges ("Camps") built by
these magnates in what is
now the Adirondack Park.
The cost to maintain these behemoths is overwhelming!
I like that she tried to save parts of the house.
Have you considered a piece on Riverside, the Westside mansion of steel magnate Charles Schwab? It occupied the entire block of Riverside Drive between 73rd and 74th. It was finished in 1907 and demolished in 1947. Mrs Schwab was my great-grandmother’s sister.
I just watched it so he has done it.
Absolutely magnificent! Majestic in every possible way! Fascinating! Lovey to see it all!
Glorious house though, can't get enough of them.
Cornelius Vanderbilt II father was the wealthiest man in America leaving vast fortunes to his children. I cannot imagine bringing in the greatest architect's, French artist and designers ,art,culture,a legacy of beauty, to be torn down 46 years later when it would have lasted hundred of years,a legacy of wonder.And was game on whoever was managing their affairs.The Vanderbilt family helped establish railways across the country which brought commerce, travel and helped build the Nation.Their philanthropy helped establish museums,colleges,library's.Shame on historians who did not fight to preserve this historic building.
Victorian house are ugly. And his heirs sold the property for commercial development. They needed the money because they were all such big spenders.
Nice to see a piece of history and an amazing house!
I Ince heard about 2 Swedish systers living in the mansion There father left them fore many years this was in early 19 century located in Manhattan. I dont know their names. Excuse the spelling. Thank you for your work! Robert!
In America we are a teardown throwaway Society. We should learn from our European Nations try to preserve so much of their history. I'm from the south and we lost so much of our beautiful homes and buildings during the Civil War it breaks my heart to see these beautiful things lost forever. All of these architectural wonders should be preserved for our future Generations of the USA
it's too big to save unless you turned it into apartments. Who is going to want to live in such a big house or pay for it's upkeep?
It was a war. Things get destroyed during a war.
A little additional history about the purchase of The Breakers. He did purchase the original Breakers in Newport, but it was not the 125,000 sq ft mansion of the same name that sits there today. The original mansion burned to the ground a few years after Cornelius purchased it, and then he had the new one built in its place, which is the limestone mansion pictured in this video. It's an amazing home and tour, as are some of the other vast mansions that are open to the public in Newport.
Ken,
Again, great content. You said, "Keeping up with the Joneses."
That phrase originated around the family of the novelist Edith Wharton, who was born Edith Newbold Jones. The Jones family was well-known for building bigger and better homes, each grander than the last.
Look up "Marble Row" which was built by Wharton's great-aunt, Mary Mason Jones. Post what you can find because I would love to see some pictures of Marble Row.
Thanks!
Reminds me of some of the homes (mansions) in my hometown of Montreal.🇨🇦
Fabulous video. Thank you!
Wow this is like the 5th NYC grandiose mansion video I watch that ended up in demolition.Most of this palatial mansions made up New York City’s major thoroughfares.I would love to experience a day out touring what Manhattan would’ve looked like back then before all the skyscrapers.These mansions were more impressive than most modern day skyscrapers.
That new tall skinny thing which I think is the Steinway? and very near here , I believe sticks out like a sore thumb in that grand Manhattan skyline
The Chrysler Building is nice. Also the Empire State Building. But those buildings are Art Deco masterpieces. Today's skyscrapers can't compare to them.
My how times change; Vanderbilt had railroads and steamships, today it's cargo aircraft in the air and cargo ships on the sea -- and computer technology that provides wealth! And years from today, probably AI and all its offshoots!
...... EXCELLENT Download! 👍👍👍
have sub.,
Phil Liverpool UK 🇬🇧
I toured this house before it was razed Beautiful!!
What a interesting history of this building/home. Imagine (even though not rich at all) how Mrs. Vanderbilt felt selling her memories. I really enjoyed this viewing, thank you.
This is a sad , yet beautiful story , thankyou.
Thank you for a great video and thank you for not showing the depressing demolition photos.
Very Cool House😊
Vanderbuilt avenue in manhattan a LEGEND.....
Gorgeous Simply Gorgeous
What a house. Mind boggling !
Really love all America/English style houses, espacially I want change our house to looking for your styles.
Great !
Hello-
of all the grand mansions of Olde New York better known as The Gilded Age the ones most vulnerable were those
built on the prime midtown section of 5th Avenue. the ones that do survive were far removed from said area.
The land was worth more than the house that stood on it.
Wow...too bad they didn't have color photos back then. Watching this...I wondered if anything was saved....it's awesome she thought ahead and saved what could be saved.. great video....stunning home
Another excellent episode. Thankyou for your awesome content.
I was around there as a child..
This mansion was massive. As I watch HBO’s series The Gilded Age , everyone was trying to keep up with Jones 🤣. The social circle back then were all about the Benjamins. 😄
Yes, and you better be talking old Benjamins, not the new ones. lol Love that series!
Thank you for this wonderful video. Such an amazing mansion. 😊
Great job love your vids
Awwww.....bless her heart!!
I hope they saved that amazing circular staircase!
Loved the video, but feel sad that it was brought down for any reason.
I think your videos are the best. I learn so much!
It is such an incredible journey. I am fascinated.
Wow we blew a to alot. Shame. Realtors........look. Out‼️
Nice video. Interesting story. I think "keeping up with the Jones" is more likely installing a pool, not painting your front door.
Actually it was coined about the family of Edith Wharton (nee Jones) when her aunt built a block of houses way uptown before it was fashionable (across the avenue from where this mansion would eventually be built). Also before it was fashionable they were marble, not dark brownstone. All the houses created a unified whole in the French style. (See Age of Innocence - Mrs. Mingott's house.)
Thank you for the very interesting video. As someone who doesn't care one fig about keeping up with the Jones, I can't relate to that never satisfied Vanderbilt guy.
Ah, Kitty...you're such a peasant!
Same here. I live happily knowing I don’t give two flips what people think about what I drive or the house I live in, or the clothes on my back 😊
The Tiffany chandelier and wall sconces in that smoking room were relocated to the Lowe's State Theater in Syracuse where they hung in the lobby until the 1970's.
Mind blowing... NY tragically raised too many beautiful Houses and buildings. I live in Indy. The same thing here. The Historical Society stepped in too late plus it takes a fortune to keep those properties maintained.
I moved from Indiana to Montana in 2002, and, some of the "ranches" out here make some of these old houses look like sheds. (Not mine, ofcourse, I have a tiny Home and rent land, as nobody really owns Mother Earth.)
That was the problem. It took a fortune to maintain them. That's why the heirs sold them and skyscrapers replaced them.
@@SymphonyBrahms sadly, all we are left with are pictures of what was .
Loved it
Thank you for this video just finished watching The Guilded Age love New Yorks architecture
It’s sad that even after Cornelius left her a trust fund, $10 million dollar in cash and then some, she couldn’t afford the lifestyle anymore.
Property tax on the Newport Mansion was in excess of $80k, their NYC mansion was over $150k.
And the US government had implemented income and inheritance taxes.
Welcome to America…
BTW, I LOVE your channel!!!
You can't run a country without taxes. Taxes pay for police, firemen, libraries, roads, bridges, and schools.
I’m related to the Vanderbilt family on my grandmothers side
Amazing story; thanks!!!🥰
My obvious concern is for Humans surviving Climate Change, and, I'm watching these old mansions you share with the understanding of Capitalism gone wild. ♡ Please be safe.
truly unbelievable! 💔
He bought a stick and shingle mansion in Newport called Breakers. That burned and he constructed the current breakers that is now open to the public.
❣️ nice visual and informative video 👍
Obscene is a good description.
As a rhode island native who's been to the breakers multiple times.... if that was the cottage.... I want to see what his main house looked like. Because the Breakers in and of itself is a beast.
Just visited the Breakers last week. Tremendous!
Alice was really swell to try and save as much as she could and just give it away in the end. Even on that allowance, a massive estate like that would take all of that and more just to be maintained. And once inheritance taxes and whatnot caught up to these people, the huge estates and yachts were actually their undoing in the end.
Ken, I need you to go visit the Stan Hywet Hall and gardens in Akron, OH. The ownet was the founder of the Goodyear Rubber Company, and Akron is still hugely built by him and his family!
I maintain: such a sin that these houses fell under the wrecking ball.
What a beautiful mansion! It had such beautiful detailed design! Cannot believe New York would allow this super beautiful mansion to be destroyed to add an insignificant other building! No other architect will ever ever create the beauty of this house. Wow so so sad that this great American treasure was demolished. New York should have made this a museum, where students can aspire to be dreamers and creators of grand homes and Art!!
great
fantastic
Wow..very cool ty
This human life we life is so intricate
All of these beautiful places being torn down in the USA meanwhile England has 300 year old family homes still being lived in and cherished.
There are enough old buildings left around the US. Located in the very center of Manhatten, it was just a matter of time before these mansions would be gone and repplaed by high rise buildngs. And the development and made it not possible to keep a staff of 30 just to keep a gigant mansion like this, heated during the winter
Some of those English homes are in dire need of repair.
Many of those grand English
country houses fell to the
wrecking ball (or arson)
after WW2 when the higher
rates of inheritance tax
were enacted; as well as
increased property taxes;
as well as higher rates of
income taxation.
The majority of those grand estates
were established and large houses
built when land, not industry was
the source of wealth (i.e. prior to
the Industrial Revolution) Later
the wealthy industrialists also
built country homes (most not
surrounded by extensive land
belonging to an estate.
It's not about the amount. It's the quality
I can't even imagine having the mindset that You HAVE to have better then anyone else around you! What a sad sad world for you. Doing for and giving to others makes for a happier more fulfilling life. I have no envy or sympathy for those who look at life and live life to showboating to impress people. I just feel pity for them. Life is so much more then being or having the best of stuff. After all, he had a stroke and spent last 3 years of his life in a wheel chair. She then spent the remaining years of her life a sad lonely alone person. What, in the end, did they gain by having the biggest home, the biggest summer cottage? Not much I would say.
She was so miserably sad… even with all that wealth around her. Hmmm.
Money doesn’t buy happiness in the long run I guess 🤷🏼♀️ but a little extra money would be nice 😊
Yes, I agree and what did they do with so much space which in the end was torn down? What a huge waste.
How do you know she was sad
This timeframe of change in Manhattan is very interesting. Kind of a “out with the old…”
Everything we build... comes to an end. Sometimes, ironically, the builders and the destroyers are one and same. The Vanderbilt fortune, where is it today? Gone bye bye.
The Vanderbilt children spent it all.
Another spectacular Video, so interesting, I'd trade houses (meaning my house with the a fore mentioned Vanderbilt mansion).
They left no room outside for tree and flower landscapes; it really needed it🌈⛈️💐🌳🌺🐇🌹☘️
Those mansions had more outside space when they were built. Later, the city grew up around them & took up the last square footage.
Check out Kearney Mansion in Fresno, California. Mr. Kearney was an interesting man.
Gate in Central Park. Very cool. Thanks MRs Vandy!
Always excellent is your presentation sir.