In the early 1890's millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned a block long renovation to his already large New York City mansion that changed the world's view of the Vanderbilt's forever. In 1883 Vanderbilt had had a large townhouse built on the corner of 57th street that could suit him and his large family comfortably. But by the 1890's he felt that others were trying to trying to outdo him and his family, so he commissioned society architect George Post to build him a block long mansion and Richard Morris Hunt as advisor. The First Vanderbilt Mansion at 57th Street When it was completed, it extended the entire block of 57th street giving it a superb view of the Pultizer Fountain and was the largest house ever constructed in New York, a title which it still holds today. The Mansion extending the entire block Although the family entrance remained on the west side there was a new formal entrance on the east side with a large porte cochere. The floor plan of the house shows that tthe rooms on the first floor were centered around the large great hall and ballroom. Upstairs were the numerous family bedrooms and guest rooms along with the play room and servants rooms. The interiors we done by the famous interior design firm of Julus Allard and filled with the family's large collection of french rococo style antiques. From the formal entrance guests walked into a stone vestibule and were led up stone steps to the water color reception room. The water color room was basically a reception room where formal guests would wait to be greeted by the Vanderbilts, on the wall is a photo of Mrs. Vanderbilt in her younger years as well as water color paintings. Through the family entrance guests entered the Great Hall. The Great Hall was done with caen stone and had a beautiful spiral staircase. The Great Hall To the left of the great hall was the Dining room which also doubled as the art gallery. The dining room could seat 200 people at a Vanderbilt party and almost 300 people when the table was broken up. The Dining Room/Art Gallery Behind the dining room was the somking room done in a very moorish style with a very ornate chandelier. In the middle of the House was the ballroom. The ballroom could hold 650 people and had walls that could open up into other rooms to increase the already large room of 64 by 50 foot long. Ballroom On the right side were two salons and a drawing room. The Petit Salon The Grand Salon Upstairs were the family bedrooms, servant's rooms and guest rooms. In 1899 Cornelius died he left an estate of over $72 million to his family and charity. His wife Alice Gwynne received a $7 million trust fund, the New York City Mansion and the Breakers cottage in Newport. For years alice resided gloomily in her two homes. Ever since the day of Cornelius's death Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone in her fortress of a mansion on Fifth Avenue and in The Breakers Villa, visiting only her family, never seen in the public. The New York City Mansion in 1925 The Breakers mansion Newport in 1925 In 1925 it had become so expensive to run both home that they both starting to look worn. To run the Breakers it took 37 servants, 13 grooms and 12 gardeners. To run the 137 room Mansion in New York City took 37 servants. The $t million dollar trust fund Alice had been left produced and annual income of $250,000 which soon was just enough to cover the taxes on both houses. The taxes on the Breakers was $83,000 a year while taxes on the New York City Mansion which had been $38,000 in 1890 had risen to $130,000. In 1925 Alice was forced to sell the home for $7 million dollars to The Bergdorf-Goodman department store which demolished it and built upon it another department store which still occupies the spot today.

The story of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion begins the same way New York’s other Gilded Age palaces got their start: with a socially prominent family in need of a showpiece of a home. In…

In the early 1890's millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned a block long renovation to his already large New York City mansion that changed the world's view of the Vanderbilt's forever. In 1883 Vanderbilt had had a large townhouse built on the corner of 57th street that could suit him and his large family comfortably. But by the 1890's he felt that others were trying to trying to outdo him and his family, so he commissioned society architect George Post to build him a block long mansion and Richard Morris Hunt as advisor. The First Vanderbilt Mansion at 57th Street When it was completed, it extended the entire block of 57th street giving it a superb view of the Pultizer Fountain and was the largest house ever constructed in New York, a title which it still holds today. The Mansion extending the entire block Although the family entrance remained on the west side there was a new formal entrance on the east side with a large porte cochere. The floor plan of the house shows that tthe rooms on the first floor were centered around the large great hall and ballroom. Upstairs were the numerous family bedrooms and guest rooms along with the play room and servants rooms. The interiors we done by the famous interior design firm of Julus Allard and filled with the family's large collection of french rococo style antiques. From the formal entrance guests walked into a stone vestibule and were led up stone steps to the water color reception room. The water color room was basically a reception room where formal guests would wait to be greeted by the Vanderbilts, on the wall is a photo of Mrs. Vanderbilt in her younger years as well as water color paintings. Through the family entrance guests entered the Great Hall. The Great Hall was done with caen stone and had a beautiful spiral staircase. The Great Hall To the left of the great hall was the Dining room which also doubled as the art gallery. The dining room could seat 200 people at a Vanderbilt party and almost 300 people when the table was broken up. The Dining Room/Art Gallery Behind the dining room was the somking room done in a very moorish style with a very ornate chandelier. In the middle of the House was the ballroom. The ballroom could hold 650 people and had walls that could open up into other rooms to increase the already large room of 64 by 50 foot long. Ballroom On the right side were two salons and a drawing room. The Petit Salon The Grand Salon Upstairs were the family bedrooms, servant's rooms and guest rooms. In 1899 Cornelius died he left an estate of over $72 million to his family and charity. His wife Alice Gwynne received a $7 million trust fund, the New York City Mansion and the Breakers cottage in Newport. For years alice resided gloomily in her two homes. Ever since the day of Cornelius's death Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone in her fortress of a mansion on Fifth Avenue and in The Breakers Villa, visiting only her family, never seen in the public. The New York City Mansion in 1925 The Breakers mansion Newport in 1925 In 1925 it had become so expensive to run both home that they both starting to look worn. To run the Breakers it took 37 servants, 13 grooms and 12 gardeners. To run the 137 room Mansion in New York City took 37 servants. The $t million dollar trust fund Alice had been left produced and annual income of $250,000 which soon was just enough to cover the taxes on both houses. The taxes on the Breakers was $83,000 a year while taxes on the New York City Mansion which had been $38,000 in 1890 had risen to $130,000. In 1925 Alice was forced to sell the home for $7 million dollars to The Bergdorf-Goodman department store which demolished it and built upon it another department store which still occupies the spot today.

The story of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion begins the same way New York’s other Gilded Age palaces got their start: with a socially prominent family in need of a showpiece of a home. In…

In the early 1890's millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned a block long renovation to his already large New York City mansion that changed the world's view of the Vanderbilt's forever. In 1883 Vanderbilt had had a large townhouse built on the corner of 57th street that could suit him and his large family comfortably. But by the 1890's he felt that others were trying to trying to outdo him and his family, so he commissioned society architect George Post to build him a block long mansion and Richard Morris Hunt as advisor. The First Vanderbilt Mansion at 57th Street When it was completed, it extended the entire block of 57th street giving it a superb view of the Pultizer Fountain and was the largest house ever constructed in New York, a title which it still holds today. The Mansion extending the entire block Although the family entrance remained on the west side there was a new formal entrance on the east side with a large porte cochere. The floor plan of the house shows that tthe rooms on the first floor were centered around the large great hall and ballroom. Upstairs were the numerous family bedrooms and guest rooms along with the play room and servants rooms. The interiors we done by the famous interior design firm of Julus Allard and filled with the family's large collection of french rococo style antiques. From the formal entrance guests walked into a stone vestibule and were led up stone steps to the water color reception room. The water color room was basically a reception room where formal guests would wait to be greeted by the Vanderbilts, on the wall is a photo of Mrs. Vanderbilt in her younger years as well as water color paintings. Through the family entrance guests entered the Great Hall. The Great Hall was done with caen stone and had a beautiful spiral staircase. The Great Hall To the left of the great hall was the Dining room which also doubled as the art gallery. The dining room could seat 200 people at a Vanderbilt party and almost 300 people when the table was broken up. The Dining Room/Art Gallery Behind the dining room was the somking room done in a very moorish style with a very ornate chandelier. In the middle of the House was the ballroom. The ballroom could hold 650 people and had walls that could open up into other rooms to increase the already large room of 64 by 50 foot long. Ballroom On the right side were two salons and a drawing room. The Petit Salon The Grand Salon Upstairs were the family bedrooms, servant's rooms and guest rooms. In 1899 Cornelius died he left an estate of over $72 million to his family and charity. His wife Alice Gwynne received a $7 million trust fund, the New York City Mansion and the Breakers cottage in Newport. For years alice resided gloomily in her two homes. Ever since the day of Cornelius's death Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone in her fortress of a mansion on Fifth Avenue and in The Breakers Villa, visiting only her family, never seen in the public. The New York City Mansion in 1925 The Breakers mansion Newport in 1925 In 1925 it had become so expensive to run both home that they both starting to look worn. To run the Breakers it took 37 servants, 13 grooms and 12 gardeners. To run the 137 room Mansion in New York City took 37 servants. The $t million dollar trust fund Alice had been left produced and annual income of $250,000 which soon was just enough to cover the taxes on both houses. The taxes on the Breakers was $83,000 a year while taxes on the New York City Mansion which had been $38,000 in 1890 had risen to $130,000. In 1925 Alice was forced to sell the home for $7 million dollars to The Bergdorf-Goodman department store which demolished it and built upon it another department store which still occupies the spot today.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

The largest home in New York City ever built at the time, and still the largest home ever built there, the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion was truly a masterpiece. Occupying an entire full block, it had around 130 rooms. Among those rooms was a ballroom, an art gallery/dining room, a grand salon, small salon, drawing room, library, water color reception room, smoking room (the Moorish Room), an office, breakfast room, service pantries, 2-story great hall, more than 17 bedrooms, more than 6 bathrooms and numerous servant's rooms. The home had been sold in 1925 by Vanderbilt's widow, Alice, because her $7 million trust, which produced an annual income of $250,00, could not pay for the $130,000 in property taxes on the home and meet her other expenses (one of which was the property taxes on her other home in Newport, The Breakers, which was $85,000 annually). Besides keeping a few personal pieces of furniture, Alice had most of the fixtures and furnishings auctioned off. "The Ballroom is as big as a house, and the bathrooms are so big, a taxi could do a complete circle in one of them" the magazines said. The home was eventually sold for $7 million by Bergdorf Goodman, who planned on building a retail palace on the site. The home was demolished in 1927. For More, Click HERE

In the early 1890's millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned a block long renovation to his already large New York City mansion ...

Louis Stern was deeply affected by the death of his beloved wife and he went into a deep period of mourning, dressing in all black and rarely being seen in the public. This all changed in 1887 when he commissioned the architectural firm of Schickel & Ditmars to design him a residence on a plot of land located at 993 Fifth Avenue. Louis Stern Was A Quiet And Kind Man, Although He Was A Stronghold In The Republican Party And Served As It's Delegate Louis's Son, Irving C. Stern, Married Aliss Ruth Brandeis, The Driving Force Behind The Decoration Of The Interior Of The Mansion Once the house was completed, it was said to have cost some $1 million and the Stern family quickly moved in. It became one of the city's leading tourist attractions and not a week went by where the Stern's didn't hold an event there. The Mansion Included A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Numerous Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Servant's Rooms And Entertaining Rooms. An Estimated $70,000 Was Spent On Designing And Decorating The Entrance Alone, The Front Doors Having Costed $1,500 The floor plan of the house was centered, like many fifth avenue mansions, around entertaining. The ground floor contained the drawing room, entrance hall, reception room, dining room, conservatory, ballroom (which was also an art gallery) and the pantries. The second floor held the library, music room, sitting room, a bedroom and the master suite. The upper floors held bedrooms, bathrooms and servant's rooms. The Floor Plans Of The First And Second Floors. From "Architecture 1901" Courtesy of "Beyond The Gilded Age" The interiors were some of the most sumptuous in city, with french antique furniture and rare vases and paintings. Aliss Stern had supervised the decoration of the home, as she and her husband intended to live their as well, and was said to have been handed a blank check by her father-in-law to cover the cost of the interior, which she planned to go all out on. She did a good job. The Entrance Hall Was Done Completely In Marble, Marble Floors, Marble Walls, Marble Columns, Marble Everything, Costing $100,000 The Grand Staircase Was Made Out Of Rare European Marble And Featured A Bronze Statue Of A Young Girl Holding Flowers The Drawing Room Was Practically Two Small Parlors Connected Together, Both Rooms Had Their Own Fireplace, Chandelier And French Furniture The Reception Room Was One Of The Most Formal Rooms In The House, With The Antique Gilt Furniture And Large Crystal Chandelier, It Was Used More As A Salon The Circular Dining Room Could Seat More Than 75 People At One Of The Stern's Many Dinner Parties The Conservatory Was One Of The Most Comfortable Rooms In The House And Was Where The Sterns Normally Waited Before Their Dinner Parties The Massive Ballroom Also Doubled As A Picture Gallery, Like In The Astor Mansion, And It Was Used For Large Balls And Events The Second Floor Hall Connected The Master Suite And The Family Rooms Together, It Too Had Marble Floors The Library Was Also Used As Living Room, Where The Stern Family Could Relax And Prepare For Their Next Party The Elegant Sitting Room Was Used By Both Guests And Family Members, Aliss Had Tea Every Morning Here Louis Let Irving And Aliss Use The Master Suite, He Would Sleep In A Third Floor Room, And The Master Bathrooms. Aliss's Boudoir Was Where She Spent Most Of Her Time, Planning Events And Reading Her Favorite Books The Third Floor Bedroom Louis Slept In Had A Connecting Den, Breakfast Room, Bathroom And A Large Dressing Room Louis's Connecting Den And Breakfast Room Was Where He Spent Most Of His Time, Working, Reading, Or Managing His Charitable Empire Entertainments at the mansion were regularly held, with Aliss acting as hostess, and when they were held they were large. When he wasn't entertaining, Louis was running his giant charitable empire, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Besides charity he also gave generously to the Republican Party and even served as a delegate, without his support The National Republican Club wouldn't have had a home. The Mansion Was Sold For $1 Million To Millionaire Art Collector Hugo Reisinger, Son Of A German Jeweler. When Stern wanted to retire to his Long Island estate, he sold to estate to the Hugo Reisingers, who quickly moved in. Hugo hung it's walls with his large collection of German artwork and statuary. The ballroom was turned into an art gallery and was never used anymore for dancing. Shortly after moving in Hugo died, while having breakfast in his room. Mrs. Reisinger Was Left A Fortune Of Some $1 million By Her Husband On His Death, After Which She Quickly Went Out And Spend It Hugo left all of his art to various museums and left his home and a fortune to his wife, along with several charitable contributions. She soon married Major Charles Greenough and they settled in at the mansion. With Commercial Invasion And Taxes Rising, Mrs. Reisinger Realized She Couldn't Afford Her Mansion Anymore Mrs. Reisinger sold the mansion and settled into a cozy apartment in the building across the street from her. She had sold the townhouse to developers for some $3 million and had put all the furnishings (the same furnishings that had belonged to the Sterns who had sold them with the house) in storage. In 1929 the home was razed and replaced with another skyscraper. After Mrs. Reisinger's death the mansion's furnishings (still in storage) were auctioned off for some $50,000.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

Visit New York Social Diary & relive the glory days of NYC. Read Social History pieces on the people & places of the past that made the city we love today!

Between the late 19th century and World War I, about 70 opulent (and sometimes absurdly ostentatious) mansions were built on the mile and half strip between East 59th and 90th Streets, according to…

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equ...

In the early 1890's millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned a block long renovation to his already large New York City mansion that changed the world's view of the Vanderbilt's forever. In 1883 Vanderbilt had had a large townhouse built on the corner of 57th street that could suit him and his large family comfortably. But by the 1890's he felt that others were trying to trying to outdo him and his family, so he commissioned society architect George Post to build him a block long mansion and Richard Morris Hunt as advisor. The First Vanderbilt Mansion at 57th Street When it was completed, it extended the entire block of 57th street giving it a superb view of the Pultizer Fountain and was the largest house ever constructed in New York, a title which it still holds today. The Mansion extending the entire block Although the family entrance remained on the west side there was a new formal entrance on the east side with a large porte cochere. The floor plan of the house shows that tthe rooms on the first floor were centered around the large great hall and ballroom. Upstairs were the numerous family bedrooms and guest rooms along with the play room and servants rooms. The interiors we done by the famous interior design firm of Julus Allard and filled with the family's large collection of french rococo style antiques. From the formal entrance guests walked into a stone vestibule and were led up stone steps to the water color reception room. The water color room was basically a reception room where formal guests would wait to be greeted by the Vanderbilts, on the wall is a photo of Mrs. Vanderbilt in her younger years as well as water color paintings. Through the family entrance guests entered the Great Hall. The Great Hall was done with caen stone and had a beautiful spiral staircase. The Great Hall To the left of the great hall was the Dining room which also doubled as the art gallery. The dining room could seat 200 people at a Vanderbilt party and almost 300 people when the table was broken up. The Dining Room/Art Gallery Behind the dining room was the somking room done in a very moorish style with a very ornate chandelier. In the middle of the House was the ballroom. The ballroom could hold 650 people and had walls that could open up into other rooms to increase the already large room of 64 by 50 foot long. Ballroom On the right side were two salons and a drawing room. The Petit Salon The Grand Salon Upstairs were the family bedrooms, servant's rooms and guest rooms. In 1899 Cornelius died he left an estate of over $72 million to his family and charity. His wife Alice Gwynne received a $7 million trust fund, the New York City Mansion and the Breakers cottage in Newport. For years alice resided gloomily in her two homes. Ever since the day of Cornelius's death Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone in her fortress of a mansion on Fifth Avenue and in The Breakers Villa, visiting only her family, never seen in the public. The New York City Mansion in 1925 The Breakers mansion Newport in 1925 In 1925 it had become so expensive to run both home that they both starting to look worn. To run the Breakers it took 37 servants, 13 grooms and 12 gardeners. To run the 137 room Mansion in New York City took 37 servants. The $t million dollar trust fund Alice had been left produced and annual income of $250,000 which soon was just enough to cover the taxes on both houses. The taxes on the Breakers was $83,000 a year while taxes on the New York City Mansion which had been $38,000 in 1890 had risen to $130,000. In 1925 Alice was forced to sell the home for $7 million dollars to The Bergdorf-Goodman department store which demolished it and built upon it another department store which still occupies the spot today.

We explore the opulent Gilded Age mansions of Manhattan's Gold Coast; some of which still stand, other demolished.

In the early 1890's millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned a block long renovation to his already large New York City mansion that changed the world's view of the Vanderbilt's forever. In 1883 Vanderbilt had had a large townhouse built on the corner of 57th street that could suit him and his large family comfortably. But by the 1890's he felt that others were trying to trying to outdo him and his family, so he commissioned society architect George Post to build him a block long mansion and Richard Morris Hunt as advisor. The First Vanderbilt Mansion at 57th Street When it was completed, it extended the entire block of 57th street giving it a superb view of the Pultizer Fountain and was the largest house ever constructed in New York, a title which it still holds today. The Mansion extending the entire block Although the family entrance remained on the west side there was a new formal entrance on the east side with a large porte cochere. The floor plan of the house shows that tthe rooms on the first floor were centered around the large great hall and ballroom. Upstairs were the numerous family bedrooms and guest rooms along with the play room and servants rooms. The interiors we done by the famous interior design firm of Julus Allard and filled with the family's large collection of french rococo style antiques. From the formal entrance guests walked into a stone vestibule and were led up stone steps to the water color reception room. The water color room was basically a reception room where formal guests would wait to be greeted by the Vanderbilts, on the wall is a photo of Mrs. Vanderbilt in her younger years as well as water color paintings. Through the family entrance guests entered the Great Hall. The Great Hall was done with caen stone and had a beautiful spiral staircase. The Great Hall To the left of the great hall was the Dining room which also doubled as the art gallery. The dining room could seat 200 people at a Vanderbilt party and almost 300 people when the table was broken up. The Dining Room/Art Gallery Behind the dining room was the somking room done in a very moorish style with a very ornate chandelier. In the middle of the House was the ballroom. The ballroom could hold 650 people and had walls that could open up into other rooms to increase the already large room of 64 by 50 foot long. Ballroom On the right side were two salons and a drawing room. The Petit Salon The Grand Salon Upstairs were the family bedrooms, servant's rooms and guest rooms. In 1899 Cornelius died he left an estate of over $72 million to his family and charity. His wife Alice Gwynne received a $7 million trust fund, the New York City Mansion and the Breakers cottage in Newport. For years alice resided gloomily in her two homes. Ever since the day of Cornelius's death Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone in her fortress of a mansion on Fifth Avenue and in The Breakers Villa, visiting only her family, never seen in the public. The New York City Mansion in 1925 The Breakers mansion Newport in 1925 In 1925 it had become so expensive to run both home that they both starting to look worn. To run the Breakers it took 37 servants, 13 grooms and 12 gardeners. To run the 137 room Mansion in New York City took 37 servants. The $t million dollar trust fund Alice had been left produced and annual income of $250,000 which soon was just enough to cover the taxes on both houses. The taxes on the Breakers was $83,000 a year while taxes on the New York City Mansion which had been $38,000 in 1890 had risen to $130,000. In 1925 Alice was forced to sell the home for $7 million dollars to The Bergdorf-Goodman department store which demolished it and built upon it another department store which still occupies the spot today.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equ...

The largest home in New York City ever built at the time, and still the largest home ever built there, the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion was truly a masterpiece. Occupying an entire full block, it had around 130 rooms. Among those rooms was a ballroom, an art gallery/dining room, a grand salon, small salon, drawing room, library, water color reception room, smoking room (the Moorish Room), an office, breakfast room, service pantries, 2-story great hall, more than 17 bedrooms, more than 6 bathrooms and numerous servant's rooms. The home had been sold in 1925 by Vanderbilt's widow, Alice, because her $7 million trust, which produced an annual income of $250,00, could not pay for the $130,000 in property taxes on the home and meet her other expenses (one of which was the property taxes on her other home in Newport, The Breakers, which was $85,000 annually). Besides keeping a few personal pieces of furniture, Alice had most of the fixtures and furnishings auctioned off. "The Ballroom is as big as a house, and the bathrooms are so big, a taxi could do a complete circle in one of them" the magazines said. The home was eventually sold for $7 million by Bergdorf Goodman, who planned on building a retail palace on the site. The home was demolished in 1927. For More, Click HERE

Edward S. Harkness was considered the most philanthropic of New York City's millionaires having donated countless millions and buildings ...

Inside the Grand Salon of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II Mansion, New York City

The story of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion begins the same way New York’s other Gilded Age palaces got their start: with a socially prominent family in need of a showpiece of a home. In…

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equ...

In the spring of 1883, the solemnity of Lent didn’t stand a chance against the social event on the mind of all of New York’s elite society: Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt’s fancy dress ball. The invi…

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

New York. Vanderbilt Mansion, 5th Avenue at 58th Street, By George B. Post, circa 1910. This house was originally built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II. One has to specify which Vanderbilt. Millionaires...

The Astor mansion at 65th Street and Fifth Avenue, circa 1900. Designed by society's famed architect, Richard Morris Hunt, who had designed many a mansion for the Vanderbilt family, the mansion was built by the John Jacob Astor IV, the Astor family playboy, for him and his mother, Caroline, the self-appointed queen of New York society and known to everyone as simply, THE Mrs. Astor. Mrs. Astor had originally reigned at a four-bay brownstone on 34th Street ~ currently today the present site of the Empire State Building. Due to a social fued between herself and her nephew, William Waldorf Astor, the neighboring townhouse at 34th Street, owned by her nephew, was demolished and replaced with a 13-story hotel, named, interestingly enough, "The Waldorf Hotel". All the dirt, dust, noise and traffic the hotel brought forced Queen Caroline to move from her home of 40 years. Replacing her home, a 17-story hotel built by son John, named rightfully, "The Astoria". Despite the family's feud, business, was, after all, business, so the two fueding cousins decided to merge the two hotels to form the "Waldorf~Astoria", New York City's most luxurious hotel. Carolus Duran's famed portrait of Caroline Astor, which she regally greeted guests in Front of. It now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Ar. Circa 1890's. Mrs. Astor made sure her new home would be the epitome of luxury. She and her son asked Hunt to create matching residences for them both, exact duplicates. The mansion, on the outside, would appear to be one palatial fortress, on the inside would be two matching residences facing each other, one for the queen, the other for her son and his family. Connecting the two residences was a sumptuous ballroom, which also housed Mrs. Astor's expansive collection of European art. Both homes would rise to a towering five-stories. Mrs. Astor filled her side(the left) of the mansion with the finest French antiques, many of which had come from her brownstone at 34th Street. Dominating her reception room was Carolus Duran's portrait of herself, which she greeted guests in front of. Wearing her signature diamond stomacher, her 200-stone diamond necklace and her diamond star-shaped tiara, she held the most lavish parties of the season, including her annual Patriarch's Ball, which officially opened the New York social season. Her ballroom, capable of holding 1,200 guests, 800 more than her famous '400'. The Ballroom/Art Gallery in the Astor mansion at 65th Street. Circa, 1902. The dining room in the Astor mansion at 65th Street. Circa 1908. The stair hall in the Astor mansion at 65th Street. Circa 1908. The mansion underwent massive renovations carried out by her son, after her death, to transform the home into a single residence. The partition wall was removed and the two staircases were replaced with one, baronial bronze great hall. Rooms were taken out and moved. Walls and floors were ripped apart and replaced. Furniture was sold and bought. Bedrooms were torn apart to make bigger ones. Fixtures were replaced. Moldings were updated. The only room not to be touched, save replacing the furniture, was the now out-dated ballroom, which it was said John kept as a tribute to his mother. The home was completely transformed. The Great Hall in the renovated Astor mansion at 65th Street. Circa 1912. After a mere 33 years in the Astor family, the mansion was sold by Caroline's grandson, Vincent, in 1926 for around $1 million. Had her son John not died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, it is likely the home would have survived much longer than it did. The wrecking ball finally put an end to Mrs. Astor's 5th Avenue palace, 18 years after her death, to be replaced by the Temple Emanu-El.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

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When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

More than a century after an ambitious project by French millionaire Albert Kahn was launched - his collection of incredible colour photographs are being brought to a mass audience for the first time.

Here is a guide to the Gilded Age mansions on 5th Avenue, both those still standing and those lost.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.

When William Henry Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world at the time, died, he left the most of his $200 million estate divided equally between his 2 eldest sons, Cornelius "Corneil" and William "Willie". Cornelius was older than William so Alice, Cornelius's wife, assumed that Cornelius was head of the Vanderbilt family, plus Cornelius had also been given an extra $2 million plus the portrait and marble bust of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, objects that had always been given to the head of the family. Willie was perfectly fine with letting Cornelius be head of the family, but Willie's wife, Alva, was not okay with letting them rule the family and launched a campaign to make her husband and their children the leaders of the Vanderbilt clan. Alice also launched on a campaign, to put Alva firmly in her place, and Alice had just the plan to win. Corneil Was Considered A Saint, Giving Most Of His Not-Needed Income To Charities. Alice Was Beautiful, Pious And Rich, Spoiled By Her Constantly Dotting Husband, She Was Accustomed To Getting What She Wanted. Corneil and Alice had met while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as "The Vanderbilt Powerhouse" because all the Vanderbilts attended and gave very generously to it, and had quickly married. Alice had been born to a prominent lawyer who left her a small fortune on his early death. Corneil had been born to William Henry and was the favorite grandson of the Commodore, who left him some $5 million on his death when Corneil's brothers got only $2 million. Upon their marriage Alice and Corneil quickly settled into a large brownstone, near Mrs. Astor at 34th Street. With fashion flowing north, Corneil moved his family to a large mansion, near the Central Park, next door to Mary Mason Jones's "Marble Row". Corneil And Alice's First New York City Townhouse Ca. 1882 Corneil and Alice were content to live in their large townhouse with their family. Besides New York the couple resided in a large cottage in Newport, which they had bought and renovated. Their cottage which was called the "Breakers" contained the largest dining room in Newport. "Breakers" The Newport Cottage Of Corneil And Alice When William Henry died he had left almost $130 million divided equally between Corneil and Willie, which made it unclear who was the head. With Corneil's fortune to back her up, Alice decided to show Alva who was in charge and commissioned massive alterations to their New York City townhouse. The Vanderbilts bought the entire row of houses behind them and brought in George B. Post and Richard Morris Hunt to build them a palace that would occupy the entire block. When it was completed , the chateau would be the largest home ever built in New York City, with 137 rooms, 37 bedrooms, 16 baths, a library, numerous salons, a baronial dining room, smoking room and a magnificent ballroom. The New Vanderbilt Mansion Exemplified Power And Wealth, Just What Alice Was Hoping For The Vanderbilt's Kept Their Original Entrance And Used The Porte Cochered Entrance For Formal Events The Formal Entrance Was very Elegant And Featured Carvings By Karl Bitter Hunt and Post had carefully crafted the interiors, which were designed for large scale entertaining, to create a breath of luxury. The floor plan is designed where the huge ballroom can be expanded to create an even large room for dancing. The inclusion of two salons showed how much the Vanderbilts admired European architecture, although surprisingly unlike many aristocrats and millionaires, there was no room designated specifically for art work, but, like Mrs. Astor, they chose to have a room that would have two purposes, that room was the dining room. First (Top) Second (Middle) And Third (bottom) Floor Plans The magnificently crafted interiors were to be used by the finest people in the world, so they had to be not just luxurious, they had to be fantastic. The ground floor held the entertaining rooms. The ballroom, salons, drawing room, dining room, office, water color room, breakfast room and the pantries were all on the ground floor. The Terrace And Steps Leading To The Water Color Room Were Done In Beautiful Caen Stone The Fabulous Entrance The The Water Color Room The Wonderful Water Color Room Held A Portrait Of Alice A Corner Of The Wonderful Water Color Room The Magnificent Caen Stoned Great Hall Reaching Up To The Top Of The House The Beautifully Crafted, Caen Stone Staircase Had Been Built In Italy And Had Been Especially Imported For The Vanderbilts The Fantastic Dining Room Also Doubled As An Art Gallery On The Mantlepiece Of The Dining Room Was A Family Portrait The Moorish Smoking Room Featured A Detailed Chandelier The Grand Salon Was Mrs. Vanderbilt's Favorite Room In The Entire House The Petit Salon's Fireplace Had A Picture Of Gertrude Vanderbilt The Ballroom Had Walls That Could Be Expanded To Create An Even Larger Space Shortly after work had been completed on the New York City palace, the Vanderbilt's commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design them a new residence in Newport which they named again "Breakers". The original residence the Vanderbilts had bought had burned down in a fire, so the new one would need to be fireproof. When it was completed, "Breakers" became the largest residence in Newport. The New "Breakers" Instantly Became A Newport Tourist Attraction The Vanderbilts lived formally in their castles and entertained lavishly. Although Alva gave better parties, Alice was considered the more respected matron. But none of this lasted long because one thing shattered the Vanderbilt's perfect life, and her name was Grace Wilson. Grace Wilson Of The Marrying Wilsons Of the Vanderbilts 6 children, Cornelius "Neily" had been the least rebellious. That all changed when he soon began courting Grace Wilson, against Alice and Corneil's wishes. The problem was that not only was Grace 8 years older than Neily, but she had also been previously involved with the Vanderbilt's oldest son, William, who had died of typhoid shortly after graduating college. Grace did not meet the Vanderbilt's high expectations and she was generally snubbed by members of the Vanderbilt clan, although Willie K. did not seem to have a problem with her. Despite his family's dislike for her, Neily married Grace at her family's house, in a simple ceremony. Not a member of the Vanderbilt family was in attendance, although Willie sent his congratulations. Shortly after Neily's marriage to Grace, Cornelius suffered from a stroke, after which he could barely speak and was paralyzed from the legs down. The gates of the Vanderbilt mansions immediately and forever closed and only friends and family were allowed in. Corneil was forever prisoned in a wheelchair and he rarely left the New York City chateau or the "Breakers" villa. He refused to see Neily or Grace, who wanted to restore their connection with the Vanderbilt family because they needed money badly, and promptly tore up the letters they sent him. Alice did the same and she was constantly at the side of her bedridden husband. When the Vanderbilts were in New York City, the roads surrounding their chateau were shut down and traffic was routed around it. When in Newport, the Vanderbilts had the roads surrounding their house covered with special pads to keep the noise down. That all changed in 1899. Corneil Sat Up And Shouted For Alice, When She Arrived He Cried "I Think I Am Expiring" And Leaned Over And Died When Corneil died, he left an estate estimated at $75 million (it would have been considerably more had he not given most of his income to charity) of which his will told everyone how it would be divided. First, he left Alice $1 million outright and the use of a $7 million trust fund which produced an annual income of $250,000, Alice also was given The New York City palace and the "Breakers" villa. Son Reginald, daughter Gertrude and daughter Gladys each were given $4 million outright and a $4 million trust. Alfred, the Vanderbilt's second eldest son behind Neily, was named head of the family and was given $45 million. Neily was given $500,000 outright and a $1 million trust. Alfred Vanderbilt Was Called The Handsome Vanderbilt Alice immediately went into deep mourning, from which she never fully recovered. The income from the trust Corneil had left her allowed her to live comfortably in her two massive homes and she regularly gave large sums of money to her relatives and friends. No more social functions were ever held in her homes, except for the wedding of Gladys. When Alfred sank on the "Lusitania", Alice spent thousands of dollars trying to find his body, although it was never found and his funeral was held in the New York city mansion. When her favorite child, Reginald, literally drank himself to death in newport, his funeral was also held in the New York City mansion. By 1910, Alice had finally accepted Neily and Grace and started giving them money (if it weren't for her money they would have been broke). Once When Dining With Reggie's Wife Gloria, Alice Noticed Gloria Didn't Have Any Pearls, Alice Calmly Summoned A Footman And Told Him To Bring Some Scissors, When They Arrived Alice Cut Part Of Her Pearl Necklace Off And Handed It To Gloria Saying "There You Are Gloria, All Vanderbilt Women Have Pearls" Meanwhile, in New York City, commercial development had caught up with the Fifth Avenue mansions and owners were quickly selling their Fifth Avenue palaces to developers, who were replacing the beautiful mansions with huge skyscrapers. Behind Alice a large skyscraper had replaced the former home of her daughter, Gertude, and completely towered over Alice's home. Commercial Development Was Destroying The Beautiful Townhouses That Had Once Lined Fifth Avenue The Beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion, Dwarfed By Commercial Invasion By 1920 with taxes rising on the vanderbilt mansion, up to $130,000 a year, and taxes on the "Breakers" rising up to $83,000, Alice realized she could not afford her homes anymore. Every since the day of Corneil's death, Alice, the reigning Mrs. Vanderbilt, had worn nothing but black and pearls, living in the past, spending her days alone with her numerous servants at her fortress in New York City and "Breakers" villa, visited by only her family, never seen in the public eye. Alice decided to economize, when she was in the New York City mansion, she would only open the drawing room, office, breakfast room, pantry and her suite of rooms on the second floor. When in the Newport house, Alice only opened the library, office, reception room, breakfast room, pantry and her and Corneil's suite of rooms upstairs. Alice, Gertrude And Gladys In The Library At The "Breakers" Although this worked for a little while, By 1923 Alice was forced to put the New york City mansion on the market. Alice knew that no one would buy her home to use it as a residence, it was one of the most valuable parcels of land in the city. Holding no illusions to the survival of her house, Alice decided to remove whatever could be removed from the house and either donate it or sell it. Alice donated the massive entrance gates to the Central Park and gave a large fireplace that had been in the great hall to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with several carvings by Karl Bitter that had been on the porte cochere. The Fireplace Alice Donated And The Billiard Room Ceiling Panels That were Bought By Loew The mansion was bought by the Bergdorf Goodman, for $7 million, who stripped the home and sold off it's contents. The entire Moorish smoking room was bought by a theatre magnate Marcus Loew, who planned on putting it in his new theatre. Loew also purchased the entire petit salon and put it in the same theatre as the Moorish room. Also paneling from the upstairs billiard was removed and sold as well as the paintings in the ballroom. The Vanderbilt mansion was torn down and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Department Store. The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store Replaced The Vanderbilt Chateau Alice Bought The Former Gould Mansion For $800,000 And Quietly Moved In. The Home Contained A Ballroom, Drawing Room, Dining Room and Reception Room, All Of Which Would Never Be Used When Alice died, she left a total estate of $15 million, which interestingly contained $10 million in cash. She gave Gladys the "Breakers" and her new New York City townhouse as well as trust of about $5 million. Gladys was also the recipient of Alice's famous pearls. Neily had been given The Gwynne Building in Cincinnati and almost $1 million. Gertrude was given the remainder of the $7 million trust fund Corneil had left Alice, which totaled to some $3 million. A trust of $1.5 million was left to Reggie's two daughter, Cathleen and Gloria. Other bequests were made to relatives, servants and charities. Alice was buried in the Vanderbilt Mausoleum.