Biltmore Estate

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Originally uploaded by mysterywriter

A paper model I bought on one of my many trips to Asheville.

[West 57th St. - Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt - Hotel Plaza - W...

[West 57th St. - Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt - Hotel Plaza - W...
Originally uploaded by New York Public Library

Found this one today while searching The Commons area of Flickr. Great stuff on here.

Enjoy.

Raising Xmas fund for Salvation Army (LOC)

Raising Xmas fund for Salvation Army (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

Although you can barely see it, the Cornelius Vanderbilt home is behind the statue.

More views of Cornelius Vanderbilt II home

Post card showing partial Cornelius Vanderbilt II home

Residence of Cornelius Vanderbilt II

Residence of Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Originally uploaded by Cornell University Library

My favorite home.

William K. Vanderbilt Residence, New York City

William K. Vanderbilt Residence, New York City
Originally uploaded by Cornell University Library

Another home.

Shelburne Farms

The Inn at Shelburne Farms
Originally uploaded by Feedman

Another Vanderbilt family home, this time the home of Lila and her husband, Dr. William Seward. It is now a bed and breakfast inn.

A beautiful photo

Originally uploaded by ultrawolffrox

I'm happy the Biltmore Estate has stood the test of time and is still here, unlike some of the other Vanderbilt homes. But I can use the time spent here to get a better vision of what the others were like.

I think I need another trip down there. And another premium house tour.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion 5th avenue NYC

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Originally uploaded by mysterywriter

I found another photograph in the book "New York Life at the Turn of the Century" by Joseph Byron, published by Dover.

I bought this book from Amazon while researching NYC for my NaNoWriMo novel this year. My story takes place in 1910 so this was a perfect book to give me a visual idea of parts of the city

William K. Vanderbilt mansion

William K. Vanderbilt mansion
Originally uploaded by Chauncy.Primm

Whenever I'm looking for photographs on Cornelius Vanderbilt II's mansion on 5th Avenue in NYC, this is one of the homes that always pops up for some reason. Not that I don't like this house, but there's just something about CV II's place that draws me. I may have to start looking for information on this one as well and hope I come across more on my house.

Mansion floor plan (Cornelius Vanderbilt II)

Mansion floor plan (Cornelius Vanderbilt II)
Originally uploaded by Chauncy.Primm

Moved from my other blog.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion 5th avenue NYC

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Originally uploaded by mysterywriter

From "George B. Post Architect"

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion 5th avenue NYC

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Originally uploaded by mysterywriter

From the book "GIlded Mansions"

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion (demolished) from Library of Congress

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion (demolished) from Library of Congress
Originally uploaded by whitewall buick

Trying to get all of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II home pics onto this new blog of mine.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion (demolished) from Library of Congress

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion (demolished) from Library of Congress, originally uploaded by whitewall buick.

Yet another photograph found on Flickr.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion NYC

I've been searching for some new links and photos while I watch "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel - my power was out earlier so I'm catching the reruns.

Here's what I've found so far:

Vanderbilt 1

Vanderbilt 2 (scroll almost halfway down the page to view the picture)

Vanderbilt 3 (scroll down to post #5 by The Charioteer - has three pictures of the house)

Vanderbilt 4 (first pic is of a fountain with the Berdorf Goodman department store behind it (where the house used to be) and the one below it is of the house behind the same fountain)

The Vanderbilt homes and mansions

I've been a fan of the Vanderbilt family (and their homes) since 1982.

My parents took my younger sister and I to the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN that year. We stayed in Asheville, NC. While there, we were able to visit the Biltmore Estate, home of George Washington Vanderbilt, grandson of the Commodore.

It wasn't until 2002 that I was able to make it back, but since then I've been collecting postcards and books, magazine articles and photographs of all of their homes.

Don't ask me what the attraction is. I know I like the time period the Commodore's children lived. I love the architecture of their homes and I really, really hate that a lot of their places are no longer with us.

I hope to pass on my collection of notes, images and thoughts on the family and on society in general.

The photograph above was taken by me in 2003. I don't know how I was so lucky to get the fountain calm and unmoving, but I'm glad it was. I've not been able to repeat it.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion 5th avenue NYC

Mansion floor plan (Cornelius Vanderbilt II), originally uploaded by Chauncy.Primm.

Here is the floor plan for the house. Wonderful. I just love Flickr!

1925c - Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion; 5th Ave., bet. 57th & 58th

1925c - Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion; 5th Ave., bet. 57th & 58th Sts. (demolished 1927), originally uploaded by straatis.

If you like researching about the Vanderbilt's and their houses, you need to get your hands on a copy of "The Vanderbilts and the Gilded Age" by John Foreman and Robbe Pierce Stimson. I was able to find a used (1st edition) copy on Amazon for $25 (with shipping) - finally getting my first glimpse inside this 5th Avenue mansion by Cornelius Vanderbilt II.

I've mentioned before I had a dream about this house. I've been to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC enough times that I can easily imagine what the inside of this one would have looked like. But having not seen pics inside this house, I've often wondered why I would think this was the location from my dream? 

The pics inside are not really enough to determine if my dream actually matches the house itself. And since it was destroyed, there is no way for me to determine accuracy.

If you can find a copy, buy it immediately! You won't regret. I'm sharing a few photos of the inside. No copyright infringement intended.

 

vanderblt mansion 5th avenue new york city

I took a photograph this morning of a print I found on eBay. 

This was the home of  Cornelius Vanderbilt II, son of William Henry Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt and older brother to George Washington Vanderbilt, builder and owner of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.

I'm fascinated by this house so I keep looking for articles and photographs of it to use as inspiration.

Vanderbilt mansion, NYC, 5th Avenue

Here is a real picture post card of New York City, 5th Avenue, between 59th and 57th Streets. This was the home of one of the Vanderbilts. The house was torn down in the mid 1920s to make way for the Bergdorf Goodman department store. What a waste! Of course, by the time the house was torn down all the buildings towered over it, since the wealthy families who lived on 5th Avenue were moving farther up town, yet still along the same road.

I had a dream about this house. I was inside, walking down a hallway, looking into various rooms. But the thing is, I had never seen any photos of the inside of this house. Now that I have, I'm a little unsettled at how close my dream was to the real thing. 

What does this have to do with writing? Well, I think I'm going to turn my dream into a story. Someone who dreams about being inside a house that was destroyed years before the person was born. There are many ways to explore the possibilities and I can't wait to start writing.