National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

PREFACE
When the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site was designated by the
Secretary of the Interior on December 18, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt hoped to
see the grounds set aside as an arboretum for public enjoyment. He believed the estate
would be an example of a social and economic phase of our national development that
would be of distinct national interest.
Unlike the site of a decisive battle, or the home of the great American patriot, the
justification for accepting the site was at least in part based on the belief that it was
"representative." The designation order states that certain buildings and structures of the
estate are "representative and illustrative of their period and hence of national significance
in the economic, sociological, and cultural history of the United States."
Taking the lead from the legislative mandate, park planning and research efforts
focused on economic, social, and cultural history. Surprisingly little scholarly research was
undertaken during the park's first half century on the developmental history of the estate,
the history and significance of the furnished interiors, the history and significance of the
cultural landscape, and the domestic life of the Vanderbilts and those employed on the
estate. These research efforts largely pre-date 1965 and are, therefore, not informed by the
most recent scholarship.
While these early research efforts provided a basis for managing and interpreting the
site, the research did not provide specific guidance for management decisions relating to
individual resources by type. A change in direction is represented by the publication in 1992
of a cultural landscape report for the site. This report, Cultural Landscape Report for
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, Volume I: Site History, Existing Conditions, and
Analysis, provided park staff with the basis for managing and interpreting the cultural
landscape.
This Historic Resource Study (HRS) applies the same level of scholarship to
assessment of the architecture, furnished interiors, and technological systems of the
mansion. The study reevaluates some of the conclusions of the prior cultural landscape
report (which placed emphasis on the pre-Vanderbilt era) looking specifically at the
potential significance of the landscape during the Vanderbilt and NPS stewardship. The
purpose of the HRS is to document and assess the cultural resources of the Vanderbilts'
Hyde Park, from 1895 when Frederick W. and Louise Vanderbilt purchased the property, to
Frederick's death in 1938, and to the present. The study evaluates the integrity and
significance of the property and places it within broader historical contexts. This analysis
will be used to revise the National Register Nomination form to include additional
descriptive information, new contexts, and an expanded Statement of Significance.
The HRS has taken an interdisciplinary approach to research and interpretation:
Peggy Albee (NPS) wrote sections on architecture. Ms. Albee is a project manager and
architectural conservator/historian for the NPS's Northeast Region Building Conservation
Branch. She is the author of numerous Historic Structure Reports including those for the
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