National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

INTRODUCTION
In May 1895, Frederick W. and Louise Vanderbilt purchased an estate in Hyde Park,
New York, overlooking the Hudson River and with a distant view to the Catskill Mountains.
They engaged McKim, Mead & White to renovate the extant house. Charles Follen McKim
served as the partner-in-charge of the Hyde Park project. Norcross Brothers were the
general contractors. Between September and November of 1895, the Pavilion was
constructed on the site of the estate's former coach house. The Pavilion served as a
residence for the family during construction. Plans for the Howard and Wales residences
were finalized at this time as well. These houses were built on the estate for Edward Wales, a
close Vanderbilt associate, and Thomas and Rose Howard, a niece of Louise Vanderbilt.
Also during this period, plans for renovation of the extant house were completed. However,
deficiencies in the old structure resulted in a new design, finalized in the late summer of
1896. The initial construction phase resulted in erection of the building and completion of
the majority of its exterior detail by the end of 1896. R.H. Robertson designed the Hyde
Park Coach House as early as August 1895.
The interiors of the fifty-four-room mansion were designed and executed between
1896 and 1899. The rooms are variously architect-designed and decorator-designed with
McKim laying out the plan of the house and supervising the design of many of the interior
spaces. Stanford White assisted McKim by serving as an antiques buyer for the project.
Herter Brothers and A.H. Davenport were the subcontractors who executed McKim's
interior designs. The Vanderbilts also hired Georges Glaenzer and Ogden Codman to
decorate several rooms, and E.F. Caldwell & Co. manufactured the majority of the lighting.
The estate's technical systems included two bridges of Melan Arch design, the White
Bridge and the Rustic Bridge, on Crum Elbow Creek. An isolated electrical generating plant
powered the estate. The powerhouse was designed and built by the engineering firm W. T.
Hiscox & Co. in 1897, and generated the estate's electricity until the 1930s. In 1940 power
was obtained from the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Company. The estate's water
sources, the Hudson River, Crum Elbow Creek, Sherwood Pond, and a spring near the
Gardener's Cottage and Wales House, were integrated into a system of dams, pipes, a
standpipe, pumping machinery, artesian wells, cisterns, and cesspools. The water system
was self-sufficient until 1941 when it connected to the Village of Hyde Park's water system.
The heating and air conditioning plants in the mansion were installed by Baker, Smith, and
Company.
As Frederick continued the estate's development, he purchased the neighboring
Sexton Tract which was previously part of the estate and reintegrated it with the rest of the
property. All the Sexton structures were removed and the former north overlook drive
along the ridge was partially rebuilt. The Vanderbilts undertook a major construction
program and replaced all the structures on the Sexton Tract with the exception of the Boat
House at Bard Rock. The extant formal gardens were augmented during this period with
new features and an extension at a lower level to the east. The gardens were designed in
sequence by James Greenleaf, Meehan and Sons Nurseries, and Robert Cridland. Overall,
the Vanderbilts retained the estate organization and existing specimen tree collection adding
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