Gilded Age Mansions

Gilded Age Mansions Stories and photos about mansions from the Gilded Age period.

Why did so many Gilded Age mansions vanish? Just like any home, they required constant funding for upkeep, heating, staf...
06/08/2026

Why did so many Gilded Age mansions vanish? Just like any home, they required constant funding for upkeep, heating, staffing, and taxes.
A social media community of nearly half a million lovers of Gilded Age Mansions, requires similar maintenance. Between technical consultants, modest intern compensation, and hours of spam control, Mansions of the Gilded Age costs over $1,000 a month out of pocket.
This page/group is a true passion and will always continue, but help to keep it sustainable is appreciated. If you enjoy the daily posts into history, architecture, and craftsmanship, please consider making a small donation.
Click here to Support, https://gofund.me/ac9db8b80
NOTE: The mansion seen here was called Shoremond, once located on Centre Island, Long Island, NY. The top view shows the main facade of this nearly 60 room residence almost complete circa 1916. The lower right view shows the skilled workers putting on the finishing touches, not knowing that within 30 years it would all be destroyed and pushed off the cliff into the water. While we can’t save every Gilded Age Mansion, through pages/groups like this, their memory lives on. Thank you.

In the Gilded Age circa 1882 these two mansions once stood on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 51st. & 52nd. Street...
06/06/2026

In the Gilded Age circa 1882 these two mansions once stood on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 51st. & 52nd. Streets. But there were actually three Vanderbilt family mansions, often called the triple palaces. The left corner one was built for William Henry Vanderbilt and the right corner house also had another behind it. Those two houses were for daughters of Mr. Vanderbilt and their husbands. Ironically the first mansion lasted the longest, not being demolished till the 1940’s. Today the entire block has two large skyscrapers that are for offices and commercial on the lower floors. What would Mr. Vanderbilt say if he could?

My new YouTube video about Armsea Hall has just been posted. Learn about its history, see the elegant rooms and the role...
06/06/2026

My new YouTube video about Armsea Hall has just been posted. Learn about its history, see the elegant rooms and the role it played in Newport’s Gilded Age. Also subscribe to be notified about the many new videos upcoming. Click the linktr.ee/gildedage at the top here and then go to YouTube Channel. NOTE: For floor plan & architectural drawing lovers you will be pleased. For those who are seeing this on Facebook & Threads, click on the link here below.

https://youtu.be/VwTfmwLUpIw?si=_kv2Y8GNVKXSnAU7

Let’s talk about Marble House, Newport, Rhode Island. Have you visited and if you did what did you think? If you have, w...
06/06/2026

Let’s talk about Marble House, Newport, Rhode Island. Have you visited and if you did what did you think? If you have, would you go a second time? What were your first thoughts upon seeing it from the outside and then inside? Could you live there? If you had to pick just one word to describe it, what would you say? Please come up with some other conversation points since I am thinking of doing this for other Gilded Age Mansions. Share your own stories. If you are planning a trip to see the Newport Mansions, here is their website for hours, events and news, https://www.newportmansions.org/mansions-and-gardens/the-breakers/ PHOTO: Newport Mansions

My new YouTube video has just been posted a few hours ago. Follow the link here to learn about this hardly known Newport...
06/02/2026

My new YouTube video has just been posted a few hours ago. Follow the link here to learn about this hardly known Newport Mansion now demolished. https://youtu.be/VwTfmwLUpIw?si=59XwEv1s5MLJ52xW NOTE: For floor plan & architectural drawing lovers you will be pleased.

Beacon Towers, Sands Point, Long Island, NY. The circa 1917 fantastical castle was built for the former Alva Vanderbilt ...
06/02/2026

Beacon Towers, Sands Point, Long Island, NY. The circa 1917 fantastical castle was built for the former Alva Vanderbilt who divorced her husband William Kissam Vanderbilt, then shortly married another wealthy man, Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont. Unfortunately Mr. Belmont died in 1908, leaving Alva a widow, never to marry again. But Alva Belmont didn’t sit at home, instead she kept building mansions. Some say she was never happier than being knee deep in mortar. This approximately 60 room mansion overlooked the Long Island Sound was her idea of a Scottish castle, but more like a folly. She had the sons of her favorite architect, Richard Morris Hunt, who formed the architectural firm of, Hunt & Hunt, design it for her with I am sure with much direction from her. Alva filled the house with her Gothic antiques, and had murals painted with medieval scenes that also paid homage to Joan of Arc. Alva also used the house to give Suffrage meetings. One of her favorite mottos was, “Pray to God, she will listen to you”. By 1927 she decided to move to France to spend more time with her daughter, Consuelo. Beacon Tower is sold to William Randolph Hearst, where he tinkered with it enlarging it and adding many of his own furnishings and artworks. He soon decides to relocate to California where he is building an even more fanciful home at San Simeon, known as Hearst Castle. Beacon Towers remains lived in by his wife, Millicent until sold in 1942, then demolished in 1945 with the surrounding land subdivided. Today Beacon Towers lives on as the supposed inspiration for Jay Gatsby’s mansion in the classic novel, “The Great Gatsby’, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Many members ask why so many beautiful mansions featured in our group were demolished. The reality is that even well-bui...
06/02/2026

Many members ask why so many beautiful mansions featured in our group were demolished. The reality is that even well-built homes designed to last centuries required constant funding for repairs, heating, electricity, roofs, windows, landscaping, staff, security, and taxes — much like any large estate or modest home today.

Likewise, a large Facebook group has ongoing expenses. Our unpaid administrators and moderators generously donate their time, interns are modestly compensated, paid consultants help resolve technical issues, and countless unseen hours are spent managing spam and maintaining a respectful environment for nearly half a million members. Yet this group has no sponsorships or advertising.

I deeply appreciate those who have donated and if you are able to contribute, donations through this link would be greatly welcomed: https://gofund.me/a7b0014c1. Recent assessments show that more than $1,000 per month is currently paid out of pocket, not including time. This group will continue because it is truly a passion of mine, but even small donations help tremendously.

The photograph shown here depicts Matinecock Point, the former J.P. Morgan mansion that once stood at Glen Cove, Long Island, NY. The mansion after Mr. Morgan died in 1943 eventually became a convent. Just before its demolition in 1980, the entire house was opened for a sale where you could buy anything, that could be removed. I was there and the vast 60 room mansion was beautifully proportioned with carved woodwork walls, doors, plaster ceilings all overlooking the Long Island Sound. I bought a few bricks as mementos. The island that it was on had been developed many years ago and the long drive that led to the mansion was renamed, “Mansion Drive”. Today Mansion Drive leads to three 1980’s homes of no distinction.

While we may not save every surviving Gilded Age mansion, groups like ours help preserve the memory of those endangered, recently lost, or demolished long ago — celebrating their architecture, artistry, craftsmanship, and beauty so they are never forgotten. The LINK to make a donation is here, https://gofund.me/a7b0014c1

For those that have visited Mable House, Newport, Rhode Island and when leaving the tour through the basement, there is ...
05/29/2026

For those that have visited Mable House, Newport, Rhode Island and when leaving the tour through the basement, there is a wonderful display of family photos. Here is a rare one of Consuelo Vanderbilt and her second husband, Jaques Balsan, to whom she had a very happy marriage. Don’t forget to check out the Newport Mansion website for hours, special events and so much more, https://www.newportmansions.org/

Two years ago, courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County I had the privilege to tour the not open to the pu...
05/26/2026

Two years ago, courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County I had the privilege to tour the not open to the public third floor. Please follow as I explore it for your with current photos & history. Don’t forget to check out the Newport Mansion website for hours, special events and so much more, https://www.newportmansions.org/

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