National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

The Gilded Age and Country Places
the Pavilion. 129 A newspaper account of 1895 described the emerging preference for keeping
several homes;
Instead of living in so many acres of ballroom floors the year around city people of the richer
classes take more a semi nomadic life, the disadvantages of which do not outweigh the
advantages . . . in the . . . cultivation of a varied and picturesque changeful life, instead of a
humdrum settling down in one location for the whole of their spans of brief existence. 130
With its house, outbuildings, road system, park, gardens, and farm, the Hyde Park estate
was the largest residence, in physical, financial, and managerial terms, which the Vanderbilts
maintained throughout their lives. The estate's gardens and farm produced prize-winning
livestock, vegetables, and flowers as was typical of elite country estates in the Hudson Valley and
other regions frequented by the Gilded Age's barons of business. Munsey's Magazine notes,
Dutchess County and all the region around Poughkeepsie is preeminently the place of
country seats. . . . Here many New Yorkers live practically all the year round. It is a land
where they become enthusiasts as breeders of cattle, as cultivators of rare flowers, and as
patrons of everything which pertains to turf, field, and farm. In the summer time and in the
autumn there are fairs and flower shows at which the New Yorkers are recognized as judges
and experts. 131
Architects and Decorators 132
Gilded-age townhouses, country places, seaside cottages, and vacation houses were
designed and decorated by a select group of highly sophisticated architects and decorators for a
distinct group of sophisticated patrons. The list of architects and decorators was not long. The
older generation of architects trained many of the younger generation that carried on their
traditions. There was certainly an element of social competition as well as social statement in
the choice of architect and decorator. The Vanderbilts of Frederick's generation confined their
patronage to Richard Morris Hunt; Richard Howland Hunt; Peabody and Stearns; McKim,
Mead & White; George B. Post; Robert Henderson Robertson; and Warren & Wetmore. 133
The decorators of the Gilded Age performed an equally important function as the
architects. Decorating was a profession that appeared in the 1850s in New York, but did not
truly blossom until the 1880s. Where the architect had in earlier generations been responsible
for both the exterior and the interior of the house, the decorator emerged in the last quarter of
the nineteenth century to create complex, stylish interiors. The preference in the Gilded Age
was decidedly French, and a number of French-born or French-trained decorators catered to
this taste.
129
See the journals of Herbert Shears and the timeline accompanying this report for specific references to
the comings and goings of the Vanderbilts. ROVA Archives.
130
"Changing Customs."
131
Harrington, 731.
132
More extensive biographies of the architects and decorators who worked on Hyde Park may be found
in Appendix 3.
133
John Snook, Charles B. Atwood, and Herter Brothers were responsible for the design of 640 Fifth
Avenue where Margaret Shepard and Emily Sloane lived, and 680 Fifth Avenue where Florence Twombly
lived, and 684 Fifth Avenue where Lila Webb lived. They are not included in the list because all of these
houses were designed for William Henry Vanderbilt, who in turn gave them to his daughters.
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