Download or read book Gilded Mansions written by Wayne Craven and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2009 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gilded Age (1865-1918) saw the sudden rise of America's first High Society, including such prominent families as the Astors, Whitneys, and Vanderbilts. As an aristocracy based on fortunes recently acquired, these families endeavored to live like Europe's blue-blooded nobility, shedding Puritan restraint as they joyously flaunted their new wealth--especially where their homes were concerned. They erected French chateaus and Italian palazzos on New York's Fifth Avenue, at Newport, and elsewhere, often taking inspiration from Parisian styles of the Second Empire. They rejected more modest American styles just as they rejected middle-class society, and for interior decoration they turned to such artisans as Tiffany, Herter Brothers, and Allard's of Paris. Immensely readable and illuminated with 250 stunning color and black-and-white illustrations, this is the fascinating story of America's first millionaire society, the way they lived and partied, and the lush artistic and cultural legacy they established.

Download or read book Empty Mansions written by Bill Dedman and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Janet Maslin, The New York Times • St. Louis Post-Dispatch When Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly sixty years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the nineteenth century with a twenty-first-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for twenty years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled by those managing her money? Dedman has collaborated with Huguette Clark’s cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives to have frequent conversations with her. Dedman and Newell tell a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world. Huguette was the daughter of self-made copper industrialist W. A. Clark, nearly as rich as Rockefeller in his day, a controversial senator, railroad builder, and founder of Las Vegas. She grew up in the largest house in New York City, a remarkable dwelling with 121 rooms for a family of four. She owned paintings by Degas and Renoir, a world-renowned Stradivarius violin, a vast collection of antique dolls. But wanting more than treasures, she devoted her wealth to buying gifts for friends and strangers alike, to quietly pursuing her own work as an artist, and to guarding the privacy she valued above all else. The Clark family story spans nearly all of American history in three generations, from a log cabin in Pennsylvania to mining camps in the Montana gold rush, from backdoor politics in Washington to a distress call from an elegant Fifth Avenue apartment. The same Huguette who was touched by the terror attacks of 9/11 held a ticket nine decades earlier for a first-class stateroom on the second voyage of the Titanic. Empty Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette’s copper fortune. Richly illustrated with more than seventy photographs, Empty Mansions is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms. Praise for Empty Mansions “An amazing story of profligate wealth . . . an outsized tale of rags-to-riches prosperity.”—The New York Times “An evocative and rollicking read, part social history, part hothouse mystery, part grand guignol.”—The Daily Beast “Fascinating . . . [a] haunting true-life tale.”—People “One of those incredible stories that you didn’t even know existed. It filled a void.”—Jon Stewart, The Daily Show “Thrilling . . . deliciously scandalous.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Download or read book Newport Mansions written by Richard Cheek and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guide to ten properties held by the The Preservation Society of Newport County.

Download or read book Houses of the Hamptons 1880 1930 written by Gary Lawrance and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Houses of the Hamptons offers a fascinating glimpse into the

Download or read book Gilded New York written by Phyllis Magidson and published by The Monacelli Press, LLC. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gilded Years of the late nineteenth century were a vital and glamorous era in New York City as families of great fortune sought to demonstrate their new position by building vast Fifth Avenue mansions filled with precious objects and important painting collections and hosting elaborate fetes and balls. This is the moment of Mrs. Astor’s “Four Hundred,” the rise of the Vanderbilts and Morgans, Maison Worth, Tiffany & Co., Duveen, and Allard. Concurrently these families became New York’s first cultural philanthropists, supporting the fledgling Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Opera, among many institutions founded during this period. A collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York, Gilded New York examines the social and cultural history of these years, focusing on interior design and decorative arts, fashion and jewelry, and the publications that were the progenitors of today’s shelter magazines.

Download or read book The Gilded Age in New York 1870 1910 written by Esther Crain and published by Black Dog & Leventhal. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 681 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The drama, expansion, mansions and wealth of New York City's transformative Gilded Age era, from 1870 to 1910, captured in a magnificently illustrated hardcover. In forty short years, New York City suddenly became a city of skyscrapers, subways, streetlights, and Central Park, as well as sprawling bridges that connected the once-distant boroughs. In Manhattan, more than a million poor immigrants crammed into tenements, while the half of the millionaires in the entire country lined Fifth Avenue with their opulent mansions. The Gilded Age in New York captures what is was like to live in Gotham then, to be a daily witness to the city's rapid evolution. Newspapers, autobiographies, and personal diaries offer fascinating glimpses into daily life among the rich, the poor, and the surprisingly large middle class. The use of photography and illustrated periodicals provides astonishing images that document the bigness of New York: the construction of the Statue of Liberty; the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge; the shimmering lights of Luna Park in Coney Island; the mansions of Millionaire's Row. Sidebars detail smaller, fleeting moments: Alice Vanderbilt posing proudly in her "Electric Light" ball gown at a society-changing masquerade ball; immigrants stepping off the boat at Ellis Island; a young Theodore Roosevelt witnessing Abraham Lincoln's funeral. The Gilded Age in New York is a rare illustrated look at this amazing time in both the city and the country as a whole. Author Esther Crain, the go-to authority on the era, weaves first-hand accounts and fascinating details into a vivid tapestry of American society at the turn of the century. Praise for New-York Historical Society New York City in 3D In The Gilded Age, also by Esther Crain: "Vividly captures the transformation from cityscape of horse carriages and gas lamps 'bursting with beauty, power and possibilities' as it staggered into a skyscraping Imperial City." -- Sam Roberts, The New York Times "Get a glimpse of Edith Wharton's world." -- Entertainment Weekly Must List "What better way to revisit this rich period . . ?" -- Library Journal

Download or read book Newport Mansions written by Federico Santi and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2016 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Newport, Rhode Island nicknamed "the Queen of Resorts," has been celebrated in beautiful postcard portrayals for over a hundred years. Today, these vintage cards illuminate the glories of the Gilded Age, when huge mansions or "cottages" built by competing industrialists blossomed along Bellevue Avenue and the Cliff Walk, turning a once-quiet New England watering hole into the apex of nouveau riche destinations. This updated and expanded second edition features over 200 period images of the mansions, the beautiful beaches, and the shopping areas where the Newport Summer Colony gathered to do what they did best: spend money. See how Newport was forever changed by the prolific growth of cottages during the late nineteenth century. Today, many of these testaments to power and wealth are house museums, where thousands visit annually to see firsthand how the rich and famous lived. Includes a guide to postcard values and collector tips."--page [4] of cover.

Download or read book Lost Newport written by Paul Miller and published by Applewood Books. This book was released on 2008-11-15 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published in cooperation with the Preservation Society of Newport County, this evocative paperback guide recreates 50 summer houses, now lost, built during the golden age of Newport, Rhode Island's reign as the queen of resorts.

Download or read book Chicago s Mansions written by John Graf and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pictorial history of Chicago's mansions includes fashionable residences designed by such architects as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Hobson Richardson, Daniel Burnham, and John Wellborn Root.

Download or read book Murder at Marble House written by Alyssa Maxwell and published by Kensington Books. This book was released on 2014-09-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Delightful...Fans of Victoria Thompson or Deanna Raybourn are sure to enjoy dipping into this historical series.”—Library Journal With the dawn of the twentieth century on the horizon, the fortunes of the venerable Vanderbilt family still shine brightly in the glittering high society of Newport, Rhode Island. But when a potential scandal strikes, the Vanderbilts turn to cousin and society page reporter Emma Cross to solve a murder and a disappearance. . . Responding to a frantic call on her newfangled telephone from her eighteen-year-old cousin, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Emma Cross arrives at the Marble House mansion and learns the cause of her distress--Consuelo's mother, Alva, is forcing her into marriage with the Duke of Marlborough. Her mother has even called in a fortune teller to assure Consuelo of a happy future. But the future is short-lived for the fortune teller, who is found dead by her crystal ball, strangled with a silk scarf. Standing above her is one of the Vanderbilts' maids, who is promptly taken into police custody. After the frenzy has died down, Consuelo is nowhere to be found. At Alva's request, Emma must employ her sleuthing skills to determine if the vanishing Vanderbilt has eloped with the beau of her choice--or if her disappearance may be directly connected to the murder. . .

Download or read book Great American Mansions written by Merrill Folsom and published by . This book was released on 1963 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Philadelphia Mansions Stories and Characters behind the Walls written by Thom Nickels and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2018 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Thom Nickels presents the city's most iconic homes and the stories behind them. Philadelphia's grand mansions and architectural treasures reflect its iconic status in American history, for each Greek Revival home and Corinthian column tells a compelling story of the people behind it. Historic Strawberry Mansion in North Philadelphia was home to Judge William Lewis, a Patriot who defended colonists accused of treason and was Aaron Burr's defense lawyer. Socialite, millionaire and world-renowned art collector Henry McIlhenny made his home at Rittenhouse Square and left his art collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Famed architect Addison Mizner's Spanish Colonial Revival house La Ronda brought the stark contrast of South Florida to Philadelphia.

Download or read book Pittsburgh s Mansions written by Melanie Linn Gutowski and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2013-08-19 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of images celebrating the extravagant and historic mansions of Pittsburgh, PA. In the 19th century, the positioning of Pittsburgh as a major manufacturing center and the subsequent rise of the area's steel industry created a wave of prosperity that prompted the beneficiaries of that wealth to construct extravagant residences. Wealthy enclaves sprang up in the city's East End, across the river in neighboring Allegheny City, and into the countryside. Pittsburgh's Mansions explores the stately homes of the area's prominent residents from the 1830s through the 1920s. Businessmen such as H.J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and members of the Mellon family commissioned elaborate homes from the preeminent architects of their day. Firms such as Alden & Harlow, Janssen & Abbott, and Rutan & Russell left their marks on the city's landscape, often contributing iconic public buildings as well as expansive private homes. Though many of the residences have since been lost, Pittsburgh's Mansions offers a look back at the peak of the city's prominence.

Download or read book Massachusetts Avenue in the Gilded Age written by Mark N. Ozer and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2010-03-03 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welcome to Millionaire's Row, where the Gilded Age mansions and clubs of high society still exude a faded elegance. It was here that fiery Martha Wadsworth--avid sportswoman and social maven--and wealthy hostess Nellie Patterson mingled with the likes of famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell and miner-turned-millionaire Thomas Walsh. From the Union Station Plaza and Embassy Row to Dupont Circle and the Washington National Cathedral, author Mark N. Ozer examines the extant Beaux-Arts architecture of Massachusetts Avenue mansions and tells the tales of socialites and politicians who lived and played behind their grand faades.

Download or read book THE GOULDS written by EDWIN P. HOYT and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Mansions of Long Island s Gold Coast written by Monica Randall and published by Rizzoli International Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Photographs detailing architectural features and interior design, accompanied by a text capturing early twentieth-century ways of life explore the lavish houses built by the Vanderbilts, Morgans, and others on Long Island's North Shore, in an expanded, beautifully illustrated celebration of the desi

Download or read book The Garden Tourist s Florida written by Jana Milbocker and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-10 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Florida gardens illustrate the amazing biodiversity of the state as well as plant collections from other tropical areas of the world. In The Garden Tourist's Florida, garden designer Jana Milbocker guides you on a fantastic tour of 80 tropical gardens and provides all the information you need to make the most of your visit. From the plantation-style gardens of northern Florida to the private Edens of painters and sculptors, botanical collections of world-renowned plant hunters, and European-inspired estates of Miami, there is something for every gardener to enjoy in a tour of the state. The Garden Tourist's Florida features outstanding botanical gardens, historic estates, butterfly gardens and zoos, specialty nurseries, and off-the-beaten-path destinations for the passionate gardener. - Preview 80 outstanding gardens in 204 pages richly illustrated with 500 photos. - Enjoy the best botanical and historic gardens in Florida. - Plan your trips with regional maps, contact information, sample itineraries, and garden amenities.