National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations .......................................................................................................................................... ix
List of Diagrams and Tables.......................................................................................................................... xi
Foreword ......................................................................................................................................................... xiii
Preface............................................................................................................................................................... xv
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................... xix
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... xxi
Architecture of the Mansion................................................................................................................... xxi
Furnished Interiors .................................................................................................................................. xxi
Service Areas ............................................................................................................................................. xxi
Mechanical Systems ................................................................................................................................ xxii
Landscape Architecture.......................................................................................................................... xxii
Significance of the Estate........................................................................................................................ xxii
Introduction................................................................................................................................................... xxv
Chapter One: The Gilded Age and Country Places ...................................................................................1
Historiographic Essay by Molly Berger.....................................................................................................1
Material Culture Historiography by Nina Gray.................................................................................... 11
Gilded-age Estates by Style and Type: The House Forms of Gilded-Age Residences
by Nina Gray and Pamela Herrick ................................................................................... 18
The Vanderbilts' Hyde Park.......................................................................................................... 22
Architects and Decorators............................................................................................................. 26
The Vanderbilt Family as Clients and Patrons by Nina Gray.............................................................. 27
Townhouses .................................................................................................................................... 28
Seaside Cottages.............................................................................................................................. 31
Vacation Houses ............................................................................................................................. 33
Country Places ................................................................................................................................ 34
Management of Gilded-Age Estates by Pamela Herrick...................................................................... 38
Chapter Two: Historical Overview by Pamela Herrick......................................................................... 43
Evolution of the Estate, 1764-Present..................................................................................................... 43
Description of Historical Occupancy 1895-Present ............................................................................. 45
Frederick W. Vanderbilt (1856-1938) ............................................................................................. 45
Louis Holmes Anthony Torrance Vanderbilt (1844-1926) .......................................................... 50
The Vanderbilts' Seasonal Residency at Hyde Park...................................................................... 54
Entertaining at Hyde Park................................................................................................................. 59
Managing the Estate Departments of Hyde Park........................................................................... 63
The Estate Superintendent ........................................................................................................ 63
The Farm ............................................................................................................................... 65
Dairy Barn ...................................................................................................................... 66
Horse Barn ..................................................................................................................... 67
Farm Gang ..................................................................................................................... 68
Poultry House................................................................................................................ 69
Vegetable Garden and Orchard .................................................................................. 69
Park ........................................................................................................................................ 69
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