Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, New York

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Stewart L. Udall, Secretary
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Conrad L. Wirth, Director
HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER THIRTY-TWO
This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402. Price 60 cents.
by Charles W. Snell
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 32 Washington, D.C., 1960 (Reprint 1961)
The National Park System, of which Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people.
Vanderbilt Mansion.
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, at Hyde Park, N. Y., is a monument to an era. It is a magnificent example of the palatial estates developed by financiers and industrialists in the period between the Civil War and World War I—a time when the United States surged into world prominence as an industrial nation and the new age of machines created great wealth that was almost untouched by taxation.
Focal point of the site is the mansion. Built in the Italian Renaissance style, its architecture and its furnishings show how strongly European art and culture influenced wealthy Americans at the turn of the 20th century. Vanderbilt Mansion is figuratively a palace transplanted from the Old World to the banks of the historic Hudson River.
The extensive grounds surrounding the mansion have been a part of great estates for almost two centuries. From natural terraces fronting the Hudson, the grounds level off to the open woods and lawns of an English-type park, then descend to forested seclusion in the valley of Crum Elbow Creek. Notable specimen trees dot the landscape, many of them from Europe and Asia. All these features combine to provide a setting worthy of the mansion itself.