National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Historical Overview
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. 184 Also
during this period, plans for renovation of the Langdon 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. 185
The interiors of the 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. 186
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 springs 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. 187
As Frederick continued the estate's development, the neighboring Sexton Tract was
purchased and reintegrated with the estate. All the Sexton structures were removed and the
north overlook drive along the ridge was partially rebuilt along the Hosack/Parmentier
alignment. 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. Langdon's
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 many new plantings. The farm side of
the estate was improved and highly productive during the Vanderbilts' ownership.
Margaret Van Alen inherited the estate in 1938, and after briefly offering the estate for
sale, she worked with Franklin D. Roosevelt to donate a portion of the estate to the National
Park Service. Only the estate acreage west of the Albany Post Road was transferred to public
184
Edward H. Wales graduated from Columbia in 1877 and did not attend Yale with Frederick as
previously asserted. The Wales lived in Washington, D.C. and Hyde Park in the brick house built for
them on the estate. The Wales' only daughter Ruth married Henry Francis du Pont of Winterthur, DE, in
1916 at St. James Church. Ruth W. duPont, Letter, November 11, 1961, VAMA General File, "Wales
Data," ROVA Curatorial Division; Snell, 23, ROVA Archives.
185
See Chapter 3, A. Architectural Resources for sources.
186
See Chapter 3, B. Furnished Interiors for sources.
187
See Chapter 3, D. Transportation, Power, and Mechanical Systems for sources.
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