Back in New York: Hyde Park Along the Hudson

Adding Mass, Connecticut and Rhode Island to Our RV Map

We had an easy drive west out of MA and back into NY, reaching the highest point on a highway east of South Dakota, at 1,724 feet .  Our current campground is close to the Hyde Park along the Hudson River, near Rhinebeck.  It was a bit challenging to get here as we had to avoid the Taconic Parkway, which only allows cars and no commercial vehicles (including hearses, golf carts, and school buses) and avoid one lane roads, but we are we settled in and got set up before the remnants of hurricane Gordon (thanks, cousin) that come up the middle of the country and is now drenching the northeast.

We did like one aspect of the Mass Turnpike system, and that is the automatic toll sensors above the freeways.  No need to stop and dig out change.  Of course, it will be interesting to see just how big the tolls are when we get home and get the bill that they mail us.

Mass Turnpike Toll Overhead Sensors

Yesterday was day 40 of our trip, but it was ONLY day two for Neil wearing long pants.  He is accepting that the warm, dry weather of our journey is going fast--especially with recent remnants of storms coming our way.  It did rain quite hard last night (necessitating ear plugs for sleeping) and most of today.  We estimate one inch or more has fallen, since we arrived in Rhinebeck.  

Vanderbilt "Cottage" Along the Hudson River in Hyde Park

We decided to try to enjoy something that was mostly indoors, and Vanderbilt National Historic Site fit the bill.  It is a 55 room mansion on the Hudson River, just north of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt estate. Frederic and Louisa Vanderbilt had this cottage built for spring and fall use. It was begun in 1896 and it took three years to complete and furnish it.

We arrived at the estate in pouring rain and waited in the Visitor Center for a tour by the National Park Service.  Turns out this adjacent 22 room two-story house, built in just 66 days, was where all men stayed when they visited, unless they came with their wives!

Bachelor Pad and Current NPS Visitor Center

We were in a group of about twenty people who took a guided tour of the main house.  We were able to tour the first and second floors and the basement. The third floor contained servant quarters. The reason this 55-room mansion still existed and is open to the public is due to property taxes and a friendly neighbor! Frederic and Louisa Vanderbilt inherited their fortune from grandfather Cornelius Vanderbilt and he was the last heir to continue to grow the railroad and shipping companies. They had no children and did not trust all, but one of their nephews and nieces. So, when they both died they gave most of their fortune to charities such as Salvation Army, Red Cross, orphanages, hospitals, Vanderbilt college and all their staff.

Most staff received enough to buy their own house and not have to work again. The niece who inherited the house, could not afford the property taxes, so tried to sell it ---- in 1938 ---- for $250,000! When she had no takers, President Franklin Roosevelt recommended she sell it to the National Park Service, for one dollar!  But, she got a large income tax deduction.  Since the property adjoins the Roosevelt's, the Secret Service stayed in both houses and used the grounds while Roosevelt was President, until 1945.

Main Entry Sitting Area

The Vanderbilt's, Stanford's and Pinchot's, were considered "new money" in the USA at the turn of the 1900's, having made their money in railroads and forestry, unlike the Astor's, Roosevelt's and Carnegie's who made their money at least 100 years earlier in shipping and fur trading.  So, every home was furnished with art, tapestries and china from Europe. The Vanderbilt's had only one furnishing that was American made, a Steinway piano!  They were particularly fond of French design and furnishings from the Medici family of the 1600 and 1700's. Hence, the French royal crown wall hangings over his bed and the Queen's bed in Louisa's room.

Frederick Vanderbilt's Master Bedroom

Most of Louisa's bedroom furnishings had belonged to Marie Antoinette, which is why there is a low fence around the bed. This was as close to the bed as her ladies in waiting were allowed, until she woke up.  There is a gate near the head of the bed on each side.  Pretty weird in so many ways!

Louise Vanderbilt's Bed Chamber 

The oval entry into formal living room was lined in marble from Europe also. The house, was quite modern for its time, with electricity, each room having its own bathroom, heat vents in each room with a coal-fired furnace in basement, their own generator plant on property, their own train station (he owned the railroad, remember), but also had fireplaces in each room and a massive ice room in the basement. While he could have afforded refrigerators, it would have put six men out of work in the 1930's during the "Great Depression", so they kept the ice box in the basement.

National Park Service Interpreter at Vanderbilt House

Vanderbilt Dining Room (for 18) and China

Dinner was 7-10 courses, each with a different French wine. You had your own waiter and it took over two hours on average for a full meal. The food came from the basement on a large trolley, which was also used to take all your luggage to the basement. Years later, Frederic turned it into an elevator for himself, still in use today. After dinner, men and women separated for about 30 minutes.  Men retired to the "Smoking Room" below for cigars and port, to discuss finance and hunting.

Men's Smoking Room

Women retired to the Gold Parlor, so named because it is covered in real 16 caret gold leaf. There they discussed the latest fashions from France, upcoming marriages in the "Upper 400" (the wealthiest in USA and so named because that is the maximum number that fit in Astor's ballroom). 

Ladies Parlor covered in gold leaf accents

After thirty minutes, everyone came together in the large parlor to play cards (bridge and whist were popular), charades and have after dinner drinks!  No wonder everyone slept in, due to all that alcohol!

After Dinner Parlor

You knew how close your standing was when invited to one of these cottages in Hyde Park or Newport, RI, due to how close your bedroom was to the master bedrooms.  The Vanderbilt's even furnished your night clothes and towels, along with sheets and blankets, cause they were all color coordinated to match the room colors, such as the blue room or the favorite red room. The stairs were only four inch risers, so the women would not trip going up in their long gowns. More amazing is that the banister is covered in burgundy velvet! Why---so the women, in the silk gloves, would not snag those expensive gloves on any wood splinters!

Grand Staircase with Velvet Covered Bannister

The house was opened shortly after WWII and the big reason the Park Service knows so much of what occurred here, is due to retired staff coming back sharing stories, photos, and even the china in the dining room today, which had been gifted to the head housekeeper, who was in charge of all 30 house staff.

Eveready Diner in Hyde Park

After visiting the Vanderbilt House, we drove south into the town of Hyde Park and enjoyed an old-fashioned early dinner at the historic Eveready Diner, complete with milkshake and root beer float. It was like stepping back into the 1950's, complete with items offered on menu.  We had heard of "egg creams" but not a Chocolate Root Beer float--ugh (says Pamela)!

Inside of Eveready Dinner

Over the next couple of days we will tour both Roosevelt (FDR and Val-Kill of Eleanor's) homes and the first Presidential library, their grounds and see some other Hudson Valley attractions.

We did a little shopping before heading back to camp.  It rained pretty hard all the way back and we are glad that we are in a snug RV with electric and propane heat, our own bathroom and big TV, and not the large tent trailer near us.  We are keeping an eye out for hurricane Florence impacts, but we are well north of the projected rain so far.  Stay safe out there,

Neil and Pamela