National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Coach house
Historical Overview
In the years before the automobile, the Coach House stabled purebred carriage horses.
The Vanderbilts had their horses shipped from New York to Hyde Park each season, usually in
May. When the Vanderbilts returned to the City for the winter social season, the horses were
shipped back to New York on a special rail car. The coachman was John Donnelly, and two
stable men assisted him. 359
With the introduction of automobiles to Hyde Park, a small staff of chauffeurs was
added to the coach housemen, bringing the total men to five. William F. Burke served as head
chauffeur. Douglas Crapser was second chauffeur. 360 A driver was also assigned to
transportation within the estate for ice and flowers sent to the mansion; flowers, fruit,
vegetables, and dairy products to the Hyde Park train station; and driving servants from the
station to the estate. 361
Paint shop, carpenter shop, blacksmith shop
A paint shop, carpenter shop, and blacksmith shop were located on the farm side of the
estate. Thomas Golden was employed for many years as the painter. The carpenter(s) and
blacksmith appear to have been hired on contract as needed. 362
MANAGEMENT OF THE HOUSEHOLD STAFF
The staff of the Vanderbilt household functioned on two levels; one set of staff members
was associated with family and traveled with them among their residences, and one set of staff
was associated with the house at Hyde Park and remained there throughout the year. Those
staff most closely associated with Frederick and Louise, their personal secretaries, valet, and
lady's maid, did not reside in Hyde Park full-time and unfortunately were not interviewed by
NPS historians. The two most valuable interviews are with a third parlor maid who was
employed from 1927 to 1938 and did not live in the house and with the third man promoted to
second man after Louise's death. The result is very fragmentary information about the
management of the house.
Diagram 3 describes the management and reporting structure of the household staff at
Hyde Park. As was customary in elite gilded-age houses, the Vanderbilts' household staff was
supervised by three department managers: the housekeeper, the butler, and the chef. Both
butler and chef traveled with the family, while it appears that the housekeeper remained at Hyde
Park. At Hyde Park, the butler supervised a second man and third man. The chef supervised
two cooks and a kitchen girl. The housekeeper supervised four chambermaids, a parlor maid,
three laundresses, and day and night men. 363
359
Snell, "Preliminary Report, " 58.
360
Snell, "Preliminary Report, " 58.
361
Oakley, unn.
362
Snell, "Preliminary Report," 60; Hyde Park Estate Ledgers.
363
Snell, "Preliminary Report," 31.
72