National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Resource History and Description of Existing Conditions
likely ordered by the particular decorator or architect responsible for the overall design of the
room. 497 One last element of the furnishing concerns the reuse of pieces from other houses
owned by Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt. There are a number of pieces of furniture, many of
which were made by or can be attributed to Herter Brothers that made their way to Hyde Park.
It can only be assumed that the Vanderbilts made these decisions. In some cases, like the suite
of Herter furniture in the Lavender Guest Room on the third floor it is logical to assume that the
furniture was there from the original furnishing. Other pieces, such as the three sofas in the
Elliptical Hall or the Herter furniture used in the third floor hall, may have been brought at a
later date, possibly when the house at 459 Fifth Avenue was closed. There is no way to
determine the answers to these questions, but it is important to consider these older pieces
alongside new purchases of old things and new pieces made for the mansion.
The few glimpses that we have of Frederick's interaction with McKim, and the lengthy
correspondence between Frederick and Louise and Ogden Codman on the decoration of their
New York townhouse in 1917, show that the Vanderbilts certainly had more of a hand in the
decoration than has been assumed previously. 498 One note written on a drawing of the chimney
stacks in the Reception Room and above reads "revised by Mr. Vanderbilt with Mr. McKim,
Jan. 16, 1897. 499 The fact that Frederick concerned himself with the size of a fireplace in the
Reception Room, and the evidence that he was reviewing the plan with McKim, suggests a level
of involvement that has otherwise been lost in the absence of supporting documentation.
From the time of the original decoration in the 1890s, the Vanderbilt Mansion
underwent only one significant redecoration in 1906 when Whitney Warren redesigned the
Second Floor Hall and made changes to the Living Room. Warren's involvement offended
McKim who was not well at the time. 500 Stanford White wrote to Whitney Warren in McKim's
absence in January of 1906.
497
The Ledgers recording the orders of Caldwell & Co. are in the Manuscripts Room of the New York
Public Library. Unfortunately the first volume which would have contained the documentation for this
commission is not part of the collection. Subsequent volumes record dealings with McKim, Mead &
White, Georges Glaenzer, Ogden Codman. There are also entries in volume 5 (1906) for vases being made
into lamps, a number of these are listed as for Vanderbilt, but with no first name, and several are recorded
as for Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt. It is evident that Caldwell dealt not only with dealers and designers, but
also private clients. See also Jeni Sandberg, "Edward F. Caldwell and Company," Antiques Magazine 153
(February 1998): 313-314. According to Sandberg, Caldwell would have provided either a prototype for
the fixture or a photograph, which then would have been redesigned for the commission. The precise
nature of the relationship between Caldwell and McKim, Mead & White at Hyde Park is difficult to
determine as Caldwell was not hired as a subcontractor by McKim, Mead & White and their work is not
listed in the Bill Books of the firm, McKim, Mead & White Collection, The New-York Historical Society.
The Caldwell fixtures are documented in photographs and drawings at the Cooper-Hewitt National
Design Museum, Caldwell Collection. There are 75,000 photographs in the library collection and 10,000
drawings in the drawings and prints department. In the case of Frederick's sister and brother-in-law Lila
and Seward Webb, whose country house at Shelburne, VT, which also has Caldwell fixtures, the payments
for the fixtures were made directly by the Webbs to Caldwell. Erica Donnis, curator of Shelburne Farms
very kindly sent me transcriptions of these entries made between 1899 and 1902. It seems likely that
Frederick would have had a similar arrangement and also paid Caldwell directly.
498
Ogden Codman Collection, SPNEA, American Letters Received 1917.
499
Drawing #17, 3/4 Details of Stack G Chimneys, McKim, Mead & White, September 18, 1896, Elliot,
delineator. This drawing exists only in the N-YHS collection.
500
McKim's ill health was probably the major reason that the Vanderbilts hired Warren in the
first place.
101