We arrived early—always the best plan to wait a bit instead of feeling rushed. This was our first stop of the day for our return home from our “Hey, let’s visit New York City” trip. Before going on a trip, I do a lot of research on locations to visit. I noticed that the Hudson River is filled with some incredible high-quality destinations. I have been wanting to do a tour of this area exclusively but had not figured out when. This spontaneous trip to New York City allowed us to touch a small portion of this incredible tourist area.
Being that awkward week between Christmas and New Years when schedules and opening hours can be all over the place, I found this mansion was open on the day of our passing through. The good part is that it was decorated for Christmas, our favourite time of the year.
We arrived early, maybe too early. We went to the visitor building and confirmed that we had a tour of the Vanderbilt Mansion and would read the information they had there. The Hudson River area was home to so many rich and powerful. Houses would be built here to stay away from the stink of New York City but still close enough to be able to do business there. Wealthy competitors would sometimes live near each other, passing by their rival’s homes on the way to work.
The grounds and buildings were donated to the National Parks Service just before the USA entered World War Two. Since then, it has been accessible to the public. The grounds are free to explore, but if you want to go inside, you have to pay. We did this and waited for others to arrive to get the tour started.
It was a relatively large group of spectators wanting to see the wealth of a bygone era, wealth that none of us will ever experience but enjoy viewing. Our guide spoke of the outside of the mansion and particular historical and architectural features. None of this information remained in my head because as soon as she opened the door, we all saw the grandeur of the main entrance. Designed to impress, it did just that to all of us. Just this room alone was worth the wait. Beautiful and filled with expensive things. Quality things that were too heavy to take home without anyone noticing. A wow experience.
Our guide would speak about various items on the main floor and allowed the group to wander from room to room. We would all gasp and be in awe of this display of wealth and filled with envy. Lots of pictures were taken by all those present, and my wife was taking more photos than anyone else.
Charlene, my inspiration for all of our journeys, loves historic homes. It is our top priority to visit houses from the past. The wealthy ones are our favourites, but the old homesteads of ordinary people are also on our priority list. Learning all the facets of society throughout time appeals to us.
The main floor was stunning. The basement was just ordinary. This is so true of so many mansions. Rooms where visitors come are always impressive. Bedrooms, servant quarters, storage rooms, game rooms and everything else tend to be on the boring side. This was the case here, but our guide talked of the history of how this lower floor was used. Its purpose and function changed depending on the owner and the need.
We had waited patiently for the tour to start, but now we were getting impatient for it to end. We had another place to visit, and the tour group kept stalling the guide with questions. We usually stay for the entire experience, learning every detail that could be absorbed, but we did not want to miss out on the following site. This was the first time we snuck out of a tour, and Charlene felt like a bandit sneaking around to find the exit. We would stay long enough to get a picture of the outside and off to the next place.
This is one location we will visit again. History is amazing. Heritage is great. Visiting one location that has both is excellent.
- Modest entry fee.
- Lots of parking.
- Grounds are accessible almost all year long.
- Stay for the entire tour, and avoid escaping as we did.
- This location can be found on my Featured Map. There are many great sites to explore, and this map is all the places we have seen.
