National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Resource History and Description of Existing Conditions
is accompanied by a single armchair with herm arm supports in place of the trousseau, table, and
two chairs that McKim had planned.
The niches each contain sculptures, which were purchased by Stanford White. The
Infant Hercules at the top level was described by White as a "marble boy with snakes." 701 There
are two tapestries, an 18th century Flemish one at the ground floor and a Beauvais designed by
Nicolas Poussin at the second floor. 702
The Grand Stairway possesses much integrity to the Vanderbilt era.
SECOND FLOOR
The second floor rooms, comprising Mrs. Vanderbilt's suite of Bedroom, Boudoir and
Bathroom, Mr. Vanderbilt's Bedroom and Bathroom, Guest Bedrooms and Baths and the Linen
Room, are disposed around the Second Floor Hall and the North and South Foyers (see ill. 8).
Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt's rooms are set off from the South Foyer and further removed from the
rest of the floor by a set of French doors. Each of the bedrooms or suites has a designated
bathroom.
Second Floor Hall
The Second Floor Hall has an elongated octagonal opening in the floor surrounded by a
double row of carved balusters. The walls are painted and the doors have identical molded door
surrounds. There is an octagonal skylight set into a coved ceiling with pointed vaults on the
north, south, east, and west sides. The present ceiling has a lattice design surrounded on each of
the eight sides by a wide band of classical scrolling ornament. The shorter corners of the
octagon center an oval medallion with an image of an angel.
The Hall provides access to each of the second floor guest rooms, except the Green
Room, as well as the Service Stairs and the Linen Room. There are lobbies at either end that
lead to Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt's Bedrooms on the south and the Blue and Mauve Rooms on
the north. The stairway to the third floor is on the east side of the hall. In addition, the plan also
originally offered access to each of the bathrooms with the exception of the Blue Room Bath. 703
McKim, Mead & White originally designed this space which was greatly altered by
Whitney Warren in 1906. There are minor differences between the floor plan and what was
built. The South Foyer is open to the main chambers, with no doors in the doorway where there
are presently glazed French doors. An arch at the entrance to the linen closet was changed to a
doorway. There are five McKim, Mead & White details for the treatment of the floor and
ceiling. 704 The plans for this space seem to have evolved over the course of the design period
700
According to Mr. Samuels of French & Co. (Samuels, French & Co., Additional Information, 1940, 3.)
Knauss, List of Flower Arrangements.
701
See bills SW Papers, Box 49:3, Box 19:2.
702
Samuels, 1940.
703
A later modification to the closet in between Mr. Vanderbilt's Bathroom and the Large Red Bedroom
removed access from the Hall to the Red Bath.
704
No #, No date, Design for screen around 2nd Floor Well
#28 (12/28/97) Detail of Light in Floor around Second Story Hall
130