For many families, a vacation isn’t complete without a trip to see how the other half lived their lives. Rich, famous, flush with money, for those blessed with the last names of Rockefeller, Hearst or Vanderbilt, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t have. Here is a list of what Budget Travel Online calls “America’s 10 Grandest Mansions.
1. Kykuit in Sleepy Hollow, New York – Kykuit (pronounced kye-cut) is the jewel atop the 2,000 acres that comprise the Rockefeller estate. Included in the house are Nelson Rockefeller’s modern art collection, which includes a selection of wool tapestries by Picasso. One thing to note is the books which line one wall of the study. Nelson, who was vice-president of the United States during Gerald Ford’s short term in office, was not much of a reader, choosing instead to spend his evenings watching television.
2. The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island – The product of a game of one-upmanship between two Vanderbilt women, The Breakers was built in 1895 by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the grandson to the railroad tycoon Commodore Vanderbilt. The Breakers has 70 rooms, including a 2,400 square foot dining room and a music room which was designed and constructed in Paris, then shipped to the United States and assembled on site. A tour of this mansion also includes access to four other sites, including The Elms, Marble House, Rosecliff and Green Animals Topiary Garden.
3. Shangri La in Honolulu, Hawaii – This is where Doris Duke, tobacco heiress and surfer girl, went to escape what she called her money-grubbing relatives. The mansion was built in 1938 as a means of escape for “the richest girl in America,” and was where Duke kept the more than 3,500-piece collection of Islamic art she acquired during her lifetime. One humorous note: when she was 75 years old, Duke adopted Chandi Heffner, a 35-year-old Hare Krishna, but things turned sour between the two when Duke suspected Heffner of poisoning her food.
4. Fair Lane in Dearborn, Michigan – Henry Ford built this 56-room English Gothic mansion in 1915. The house reveals Ford’s taste for “rustic hominess,” although he often found his solace in parts of the property not a part of the main house, such as the powerhouse, which was designed by Thomas Edison. Near the end of his life, Ford grew more and more eccentric, and it is said that he used to collect the rust off shaving razors to use as a hair restorative. The garage at Fair Lane houses six historic models of the cars Ford’s assembly lines used to produce.
5. Aiken-Rhett House in Charleston, South Carolina – Parts of “Swamp Thing,” a horror flick directed by Wes Craven, were filmed at the Aiken-Rhett House in 1982. Part of the charm of this mansion is the faded, worn feel it has. Starting in 1898, as the Aiken family started to dwindle in numbers, rooms that were no longer needed were sealed up, so a tour today shows them as they were 100 years ago, peeling wallpaper, worn carpets and all. Some of the property buildings have survived as well, so a tour also includes slave quarters, a kitchen and horse stables.
6. Winterthur in Wilmington, Delaware – Built in 1839 by Jacques and Evelina Bidermann (of the du Pont family), this house was doubled in size during the 1920’s after it was inherited by Henry Francis do Pont in order to house his art collection. The collection, which included more than 60,000 objects and furnishings, dates from between 1640 and 1860. The collection is now so valuable that there are 26 employees at the estate who are certified as firefighters.
7. Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina – The second Vanderbilt mansion on the list (after The Breakers), the Biltmore Estate was built in 1895 by George Washington Vanderbilt II, another grandson of Commodore Vanderbilt. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the mansion has 250 rooms, electric lights, indoor plumbing, with water piped in from a reservoir five miles away. Big and brash, not all guests were impressed. The author Henry James once said the mansion was “strange, colossal, heartbreaking… in effect, like a gorgeous practical joke.”
8. Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia – Thomas Jefferson began construction on Monticello when he was 26 years old, in 1769, although the project did not finish for 40 years. Most impressive in the mansion are the little things, such as the writing desk and dumbwaiter designed by Jefferson himself, or the set of antlers hanging in the entrance hall, which were a gift from Lewis and Clark. Also available is a tour of the grounds, which show the extensive slave quarters, the outdoor kitchen, and wine cellar.
9. Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California – Built by William Randolph Hearst in 1919, the Hearst Castle is a 165-room Mediterranean Revival palace, which took 28 years to complete. The estate hosted numerous parties and Hollywood luminaries, including Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford and others. The estate also includes the Neptune pool, which holds more than 345,000 gallons and is lined with marble. During the summer, employees are occasionally allowed to swim in the pool, after the tour groups have gone home for the night.
10. Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana – Built by sugar cane planter J.T. Roman as a wedding gift for his wife, Celina Pilie. The plantation, built in the Greek Revival style, has been seen in such movies as “Primary Colors” and “Interview With A Vampire.” During tours, guides are clothed in period appropriate costumes, and talk about the parties given by the Roman family, as well as their day-to-day lives. In spite of the lavish gift, it is presumed the romance faded at some point between the married couple, as J.T. would often sign his letters to Celina, “Kiss the children for me. Your Friend, J.T. Roman.”
